Percy's New Path
by Charlee56
Summary: Annabeth has left Percy to study ancient architecture in Greece. He's been left behind because of her desire to live her own life. She left him a note and then she left him. His heart is broken and he leaves the camp. He travels to his mother's home and there he finds a new path in life that he can take. Will an accidental exposure to this new world give Percy A New Life?
1. Chapter 1

Something new I've been kicking around for a little bit.

If... What IF Percy had gone missing from the Olympian world? Annabeth decided to leave that world behind in order to study her architecture abroad. Their relationship didn't hold her any longer, and the way she went one day leaving Percy alone... He suffered silently for a while and then;

No note, no trace, not at a school, not at Camp. Nowhere to be found… until one day…

 _A Different Path for Percy chapter 1_

I can't believe it. She's really gone. I know she said she was going, but a part of me hoped that she wouldn't. A small part of me just wanted it over. But the largest part of me wanted her to stay. Despite what she said to me, I didn't want her to go.

I must have stood there by my bunk, a bunk I hadn't slept in that night and read and reread the note until I had it memorized. I could feel a breeze and smell sea air and for a moment I thought that my father had come. I turned around and realized that the door had blown open a little bit. I closed it because I didn't want it open.

An open door is just an invitation for somebody to walk through and right about then I didn't feel like company very much. I did want to talk about this, just not to anybody else over there at camp. Chiron had not been much of a help, and all that he could say to me amounted strictly to platitudes about loving and losing, and coming from a 5000 year old centaur who bred somewhat indiscriminately as many horses do, it just had very little meaning for me.

I guess I was looking for a father figure to speak to, and last night I had prayed to my father. He answered me as always these days, and I outlined the problem for him. I guess I should have used the words. THE WORDS. "I truly love her".

But I didn't.

And that wasn't very much help at all. Right about that moment the door opened up again and I turned around to slam it shut when I saw a figure in the doorway.

"Brother? Daddy says you're not feeling good, that pretty Annie went away for a while to go to school far, far away. I came to be with my brother because your heart is sore. I love you very much and I will never leave you. I'm only ever at Daddy's Forge, and I made some neat things! Do you want to see some?"

My younger brother, Tyson was standing there in the doorway. It had been the better part of a year since I'd seen him and I had missed him as well. But missing your brother is different from missing the love of your life, someone who you felt very diminished without.

"Hey big guy! It's so good to see you! Come on in and let's sit down and talk for a while and catch up. I've missed you a lot, and I'm so glad to see you here. I could really use you, today especially. In fact I could use you for a while here everyday!"

He grinned that beautiful big toothy grin of his and came into the cabin. He was a more or less human height although he did normally stand 6 ft 5 in. Tyson was a big guy and enormously strong even in this form, but in his natural form he stood maybe 25 or 30 feet tall. He was still pretty young, almost a baby by Cyclope standards, but as tough and determined as they came and he didn't know when to quit in a fight.

We chatted for about 20 minutes back and forth, and he gave me all the latest gossip on Atlantis and the royal palace. It turned out that Dad was having his own problems with his wife, and it seemed as if I might have a new demigod sibling on the horizon which was the reason for the arguments with his Queen.

She was never very liberal thinking when it came to him having mortal children, although the gods did it in order to generate demigods who would worship them and perform quests for them in the mortal world if they could not. Ancient laws were a bitch for gods, and having a demigod or two around helped them out a lot sometimes.

Then Tyson reached into his backpack and took out a piece of soft cloth that had been folded heavily over itself. I was curious to see what it contained because my brother was constantly thinking of new things to make. He opened it up and inside the wrap were twenty or thirty examples of the most beautiful crucifixes I had seen in a long time. He worked them in gold and what looked like silver, as well as platinum and a few other metals as well.

"Big brother, do you think Mama Sally would like one of these? I wanted to make her a present because she always treats me so good and gives me those great cookies she makes for you, the blue ones; you know what I mean?"

I nodded and said to him, "Yeah, brother. I think that she would absolutely love any one of these. But you should pick out which one you want to give to her. and she would love whatever you did give to her, because that's how she is. She's the world's best mom! But where did you get the design from? Did you copy it from somewhere?"

"Daddy showed me what he called Spanish treasure ships, and there were lots of these in one chest. I liked the form so I used them for the basic pattern. I've seen mortals on dry land wearing them before. I don't know what they mean, but they sure are pretty. I think Mom would like them because she's pretty too!"

My eyes started to tear up at this from all the emotion that was locked inside me. That was a big problem of mine, holding everything in. But I resolved that I wouldn't hold in everything that day because I needed to let it out. So I would have a good talk with my mother and Paul that night as they always had good advice for me. Especially my mother. She always knew what to say in every situation, although Paul would probably take me out for a coffee or a slice of pizza. He'd talk about guy things and he always treated me like an adult instead of like the way Chiron did on occasion, almost as a child.

I had done too many things in my life, seen far too much to be considered a child any longer, something which I was very acutely aware of. I often wished the adults around me looked at me as an adult as well. And now here was my little brother to make me feel better, almost as good as Paul would be making me feel, and I suddenly began to not feel quite so alone.

"Big brother, I love you very much and don't want to see you cry, not over Annie Beth. She went to school far away and that's not good but I think she probably still does love you and that's good. I know I love you and I know Mama Sally and Papa Paul both love you and maybe we should go see them together so I can give Mom her present. Do you think she'll hug me when she sees me?"

I smiled at this last question. My mother absolutely adored Tyson, especially when I first introduced him. At first it seemed that she was a little taken aback by him, but then she explained she was just a little surprised to see that I had any little brother, let alone a cyclope. I knew that as soon as she saw us we were both gonna get big hugs and she'd sit us down in the living room for about a half-hour and pump us for information about what was going on in our lives. Mom really cared and wanted to keep up because she knew how difficult it was being separated from your parents early on.

Her father had died early from liver cancer and her mother had gotten sick with tuberculosis. That meant that there was nobody there to take care of my mom when she was a little girl and she had to go live with her mother's sister, her aunt and her husband on their farm in Ohio. Mom had loved living on the farm, and her aunt and uncle had brought both my mom and her mom out to live with and near them after grandma had gotten a bit better. Mom lived with them from the age of 9 onward, and her mother lived in a nearby hospice that accepted people with Medicaid. She didn't get the best treatment, my grandmother; but at least she did have medical treatment of a sort and they made her as comfortable as they could until she passed away when my mom was 14.

TB was pretty contagious and my mother had to be watched closely for two years by the family doctor that her Aunt took all of her family to. My mom was devastated to lose her mother, although she understood there was nothing that could be done as her mother's illness was so advanced already by the time they identified it. But she had lost both of her parents and it hurt terribly. I think that was why she clung to me so hard sometimes, knowing how fleeting family relationships can feel when you lose somebody you love like a child or parent.

All of which brought me back to Tyson's question about a hug. I knew my mother would hug him to death, especially if he clung to her. My mom was a human personification of real love. Maybe that's what made me love Annabeth so hard, my mother having taught me an appreciation for love across the board. When I loved, I loved completely. I had no idea if Aphrodite included this kind of love in her domains, but if she did then I definitely owed her one big thank you!

And Chiron was right about one thing; it truly was better to have loved Annabeth than not to have loved her at all. Because my love for her helped to define me as a man, and as a person. And that meant a lot to me. My father had simply talked about how inconstant women seemed to be and how they didn't stand by you long enough yadi yadi yada. It seemed to me that to my dad, it was all about him and not about 'her'. ("Pardon me Captain Kirk, but that just does not compute".)

"Of course she'll hug you! What kind of a question is that? She's your mother too, and she loves and misses you. Don't you call her or write to her every once in awhile?"

Tyson grinned shyly and looked at the floor scuffing his foot back and forth as he said, "Yeaah, sometimes I call her and tell her how much I miss her. And she smiles and tells me she misses me too. I called her last week and she told me she would make cookies for me when I came. And she said she wanted me to have something for dinner called pot roast. Mommy said she would make me pot roast and have cookies for dessert and ice cream!"

Tyson talked more like a child because he still really was one in terms of cyclopes. Their bodies age twice as fast as a normal human's, but their minds remain rather simple as their intellect grows at a slower rate than their bodies.

"Of course she has a big hug for you, you huge lug you!"

Tyson smiled this and got up and began to jump up and down, repeating himself and saying how much he wanted to go visit mom at her place. Okay, I get just how much he seems so childish to you. But this is normal behavior for a cyclope of his age. In time, he'll become fully mature and in just a few years when he does, it will happen almost like overnight. But until then, "Okay, okay! As long as you're ready I'll just grab my things and we'll get going, okay buddy?"

That made him very happy and I grabbed my backpack which was already full of things including my Minotaur horn, and several pictures of Annabeth which I had framed in various places all around the cabin, nectar and ambrosia as well as a baggie of 100 drachma and about $500 in mortal money in a billfold. I wasn't planning on coming back. All my clothes were in there, too.

I was careful to turn off my cabin's heater and I dropped a golden drachma in the heated salt water fountain as there was a mist from it and a rainbow was possible. I threw in a drachma and called out, "Yo, Fleecy! Wassup? Can you do me a solid and hook me up with my moms, Sally Jackson in New York City, please?"

I heard some whistling and popping, a crackle of energy and then I heard the familiar voice of the goddess Iris' switchboard operator. The static electricity in the nebulae's speech along with the sound of breeze and popping like sheets in the wind came across loud and clear as she replied,

"Hiya Percy! How you doing hun? You want me to get your mom for you? Sure thing honey and by the way here's your change!" My drachma shot back out at me, courtesy of my friend the wind spirit. "No charge for friends Percy, and never when you're calling your mom".

"Thanks Fleecy, you are the best! By the way, I meant to ask; do you guys have any prepaid cards or anything like that just in case I'm caught out without a drachma like on a quest or something"

"Sure thing sweetie, and I'll send one over to you real soon. It's got a complimentary 100 drachmas already credited to it for you, courtesy of your friendly Fleecy!"

I was literally stunned! This was the kind of sunshine in my day that I really needed right about now. It always served to show me where my friends were and who they were too.

"Fleecy sweetie, I need to treat you to some pizza or something the next time I'm out that way. If it's okay by you I'd like to stop by and bring some and maybe a six pack of beer now that I'm old enough to buy the stuff! It would be nice to hang out with you for a little bit and I haven't seen you in so long."

"Aw, Percy! That's so nice of you! I'd really enjoy that, and you're right it's really been a long time since we've seen each other. But you know, we all owe you our best because you always do your best for everybody. I see it all the time and you should hear some of what people say about you on "Iris calls". Yeah, there are some haters out there, but I think that they all deserved what they got from you; and if you ask me you definitely gave them what they deserved when they talked about it on the calls. But the ones who like you are the ones who really make a difference. Like the others who went on that last quest of yours out to the Ancient Lands. They love you absolutely and completely. Although Annabeth, well I don't know about her. And I think that you know about that too. At least based on everything that I heard. But you know, you can always ask me questions about stuff if you need information because I'm always hearing things about this, that and the other and sometimes it's information that you might be able to use. So don't be afraid to ask me Percy. Either me or the goddess, okay? And don't forget that pizza and beer, big guy! I'll be waiting!"

I chuckled at all of that and thanked her very much for everything and promised her that I would ask her if I ever had a need of information. And I often did need information. It just never occurred to me to ask Fleecy or Iris what they might know. But I would now.

The mist cleared and I could see my mother sitting at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee and some cookies in front of her as well as a newspaper. She seemed to be doing the crossword puzzle, which I know she loves to do and that's when I broke in and said, "Hi, Mom!"

She looked up in surprise and saw my face in the vision at her end and she smiled so very widely. That was what I really needed to make me feel better.

"Percy! It's you! I've missed you so much! It's nice to hear from you and how is everything?"

"Well, not so hot actually. In fact, I was kinda wondering if you'd mind if I came over for a visit for a few days. And Tyson is with me and he wanted to come too".

Her smile got even wider and said, "You come on home and bring your brother with you. It'll be nice to see my two boys again! Paul is at a conference in Cincinnati for the next 5 days, and I've been lonely without him. He left two days ago and he's taking certain seminars that he needs for educational credits to keep up his license as a teacher. Four other teachers from his department at the high school went with him and it'll be nice to have my sons in the house to cook for. It gets lonely here with no men in the house!"

It made me happy to hear her so happy, and I reflected that Paul must really be working out as her husband, and I was happy about that. I always hoped that my mother would have a happy ending somehow, and I know Paul had done his level best to give her that happy ending. And he always tried hard with me and especially with Tyson. It was hard for him with Tyson at first because Paul wasn't used to the Greek world. He wasn't born into it like I was. And even I had a hard time with it at first because I didn't know anything about it until I was twelve and then suddenly I was immersed in it completely.

"Great mom, Tyson and I will leave in a minute or two, and we'll be home in a few hours. I'll ask Argus to drive us up to the railroad and we'll come in from Penn Station that way. There's a train leaving here in an hour so we shouldn't have any problem getting into town in time to catch it. I guess you can expect Tyson and me home for dinner, and I'll call you when we hit Penn Station, okay?"

"Percy, how are you going to call me when you hit Penn Station? Do you have a cell phone or something?"

"Naah. They still have some payphones at Penn Station and it doesn't cost too much to make a phone call. I can get quarters at the ticket window without a problem and if there's anything that you need from the store on our way home please give it some thought while we're on the train and let me know when I call you and then I'll pick it up on our way over to the house, okay? And you don't have to worry about money because I have plenty with me. So just let me know whatever you need and I'll pick it up."

"Okay honey, fine. You to do that and I'll be seeing you tonight and maybe we could do some popcorn and a movie after dinner. And please let Tyson know I'm going to make his extra special peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, just in honor of him being here! I know that your dad likes it very much that he comes here with you, because he knows that Tyson is perfectly safe here with me and you, especially with you. Your father worries about your little brother so very much. And although I know the two of you can take care of yourselves very well, I worry about you both too. So I can't wait to see you both and I'll see you when you get here!"

As I waved my hand through the connection I said goodbye and told Mom that I loved her very much. I could see her smiling as the connection broke, and I thought I could hear Fleecy say in the background, "Ohhh, he is just so sweet!"

it really didn't bother me that she overheard my call, cuz I know she can't help that. And while it might normally embarrass me to be called sweet by anyone especially in connection with my mother, it didn't bother me this time. I was always 'sweet' to my mother, because I only had one mother and I wanted her to know how much I love her always.

"Brother? Was that Mom? did I hear her say she was making my extra special cookies for me"

As I picked up my backpack and handed Tyson his I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "Yeah, she's making your special cookies for you and she said she's going to love having us both around the house. Turns out that Paul is away on a conference for his teaching license out in Cincinnati, Ohio and he may be out there for another 5 days, so we actually have a little time alone with Mom for a little bit. We can both see where that goes, however long she can stand having us both around".

"Why? Aren't we coming back here?"

"Maybe you will, but I wont".

This seemed to upset Tyson quite a bit and he looked a little sad. He thought about it for a minute and asked me, "Big brother, are you going away somewhere? Because if you are, I want to come with you. I love Daddy and I like the others at the forge. They treat me good and I've learned a lot. But you are my big brother and I love you. And I don't want to lose you like you lost Annabeth. Not ever".

Suddenly I got all choked up and couldn't talk. I had to remember that this was my baby brother talking, as big as he was which was bigger than me, he was still a really young guy and emotionally, he needed to grow up a little bit. I knew that Tyson being by mom was always a good thing for her, and Paul taught him things like reading and writing and basic arithmetic, all of which he needed very much.

I knew that my dad liked the fact that Paul and Mom taught Tyson the kind of things that he needed to know in order to navigate the mortal world. My father had often said in front of me how much he appreciated every effort that Mom made for Tyson to make sure that he felt accepted and loved.

And I knew that my dad secretly regretted ever having met Amphitrite. He'd wished very much that he could have married my mother and then made the the mistake of saying that to Triton once in an argument that they'd had, and Triton repeated it back to me angrily as if it was my fault somehow. It hurt me to see my elder brother in so much pain over his mother and his father, but this kind of thing actually does happen even in immortal families sometimes.

Nobody ever escapes the pain in a situation like that. I remember I did say that to Triton, and then I told him that despite whatever our parents had done, none of which could ever be excused because of all the anger and the hatred from all sides, he was my brother and I would always be there for him if he needed me and for any reason at all. That seemed to ease his anger a little bit, and I told him that I respected his mother and her position as Queen and that I respected the fact that he obviously loved his mother a great deal. I told him that I would always honor her and him as well even if they did not accept me. He seemed to accept that but he was still short tempered with me.

All of this infighting and family politicking as well as the differences between the Olympian gods and the demigods Is what I was thrust into when I was 12 years old. And nothing in my life had prepared me for any bit of it. Only my meeting Annabeth brought any sunshine into my life at all at that point. She'd been my best friend for a very long time and now suddenly, she was gone.

Tyson and I headed out up to the big house, where we asked Chiron to have Argus take us into the railroad station. It was a beautiful day in late August, still warm weather in New York. We carried jackets with us although we didn't need to wear them.

Chiron had looked a little uneasy when we entered his office both carrying backpacks and jackets. I think he realized we were going to be away for more than just a few days. But when he heard me say that I was going to my mother's house along with Tyson for about five days, he looked a lot easier about it.

"Perseus, you alarmed me a little bit there for a moment. I know that this business with Annabeth has upset you greatly, but please remember that women do come and go in our lives sometimes with more frequency than we would like. I can only think about all the young ladies out there both at camp and surely elsewhere who would like to meet a handsome young man such as yourself, physically fit and a wonderful human being to every lady he meets. And the gods' proclaimed Hero and Savior of Olympus to boot!

"I've even heard that some of the goddesses have their eyes on you, and if you would like to meet some then we can talk about it and you can decide if you would like to meet them before I speak to them. If you like, we could have a small party here at the big house, a kind of an adult gathering if you will, and I will be happy to introduce you. We could even make it a supper party if you would like? And we could plan the party any way that you like with any food that you would prefer. Please let me know if you would like to do this. After all my lad, you are like a son to me in so many ways and you are my greatest pupil ever! I would be so happy and proud to introduce you to some nice people".

This kind of shocked me, because Chiron had never offered to do that for anybody else that I know of, and I did say thank you and that I would let him know. But I wasn't thinking that far ahead just yet. He looked a little bit troubled at that; obviously I wasn't taking this break up with Annabeth easily at this point.

I gave my favorite teacher a hug and so did Tyson. He looked happy at that, and he laughed a little bit when Tyson hugged him. Chiron was always happy to see Tyson come and visit, and he respected him greatly for all his hard work on the quest with us to the Sea of Monsters. Tyson was always very even tempered, even when Clarisse was busy teasing the life out of him. In the end, we had the last laugh over her because Tyson more than proved himself. He was a hero in my book, and right up there with any demigod. Never mind the fact that he was a cyclope, in my heart he was always one of us.

Argus met us by the gate to the camp, next to the new parking field that had been constructed for parents dropping off their children. It was also used for Camp vehicles, of which we had several now. There was always a patrol on duty to safeguard the area so that monsters wouldn't try to sabotage or tamper with the vehicles, let alone try to steal one.

Several telekhines had been caught with their flippers under the hood of the camp van once and several children of Apollo used them for target practice that time. Those kids are deadly with bows and arrows. Travis Stoll, who is an absolute thief at heart when it comes to cars took a look under the hood and saw that the seal-like monsters had rigged several jars of Greek Fire to the starter unit in the van. Anybody trying to start that van would've been blown sky-high! And so we started regular patrols. Apparently, they'd paid off.

The van started up with no problem and we didn't get blown up this time, so I guess everything was okay. Argus muttered something under his breath about installing a remote starter in the van, so that he didn't have to risk his life starting the "dam van" anymore. Either that or parking it beyond the barrier inside camp might work?

We reached the Port Jefferson station of the Long Island Rail Road after about a 35 minute drive. It was a beautiful part of Long Island, and we could see the ferry that ran north to Bridgeport, Connecticut from the slip downtown. It was about a mile away and downhill from where we were standing at the head of Main Street, I think they called it. I had always wanted to take the ferry across the Sound to Bridgeport.) There was the PT Barnum museum up there because the old showman had lived there originally, and there was a baseball stadium right on the other side by the ferry dock. They played AAA minor league ball up there and I'd heard that it was pretty good. I like baseball and the ferry ride is only $10 each way for a pedestrian. They also accept cars and small trucks on board the ferry, and several of the other campers who had taken it said it was an absolutely beautiful ride. Long Island Sound is pretty wide, and it gets pretty deep there too. It's not unusual to see sharks and even some of the smaller whale species towards the mouth of the sound over by Block Island. And Block Island isn't that far from Nantucket in Massachusetts. It was a beautiful place to live, Camp Half-Blood.

"Was".


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks to ChaosJackson344 for the thoughtful input regarding 'timeskips'. What a great idea!_

 _Time Skips… 2046 ce_

The hierodeacon finished the early morning prayer service. He'd led the monastic community that morning, and for some reason it made him think of the first time he had ever taken part in such prayers. It was many years ago as a young man who had just been accepted into the monastery of Saint Nestorius in Roscoe, New York.

The prayers were second nature to him now, and he fully believed the theology that he had come to as an adult and a novice. He had seen the proof of it as a young man in accepting the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, and finally acceptance into the orders of the monastic community. He was now a monk who had been ordained a deacon in his church, the Greek Orthodox Church. He hadn't spoken a word of English since he came to Greece in 2032. He actually had to strain to remember the English words these days and it gave him kind of a chuckle to think that way.

There was no true hierarchy among the monks there on the peninsula of Mt Athos, located in the northeast of Greece, jutting out into the Aegean Sea. The entire peninsula and especially the mountain itself is all holy ground, uninhabited except by monks or priests in various communities, although it might look to the outside world as if they were all one big community. But it wasn't true. There were a number of small, and some not-so-small communities, almost satellites on the main facilities if you could call them that. And they were considered an autocephalous region of Greece, more or less independent of the rest of the nation. They were all led by an ecumenical council, led in turn by an Elder Monk who was usually much older in age and already recognized as a leader in the council by the time he was elected. This "Elder" was the direct interface for all the communities of Mt Athos with the Greek government.

Each smaller community had its own place to say prayers, a refectory in which everyone ate, common kitchens and food storage facilities. Everyone had either a hut or some had caves, and lived and worked in the various monasterys proper. Everyone had a reason of their own for being there, and his was in order to gain peace in his life. And this was a pretty peaceful place. They did all pray and work together, but all retired to their own cell to pray and meditate individually. All slept alone.

When he took his tonsure originally in 2015, he had been barely 22 years old and on the run from his so-called 'family'. They were a collection of misfits and neer-do-wells who constantly caused him nothing but trouble and grief in his life. The deacon, at twelve years of age had been thrust into a war that put him in the middle of a sniping contest between his uncles and his aunts. it almost got him quite literally killed on several occasions. His own family did that. And then there was another war!

When he took the tonsure, his father had been frantic to find him. But because of his baptism and acceptance in holy orders he had been placed beyond his father's reach for all time. Neither his father or his uncles nor his aunts or cousins had any more call on him ever again. Papa Stavrious had guaranteed it to him and from everything that the Deacon had learned, the Papa (priest) knew what he was talking about. The Papa was a priest and was well thought of by the local Episkopos, the Bishop. Papa was able to give instruction to the deacon when he was still new to the faith.

His mother saw his pain and it was she who convinced him to speak to the priest, who she knew from her own childhood in Ohio. The priest now served in a small parish church in Astoria, Queens, New York City across the East River from where Percy's mother and her husband Paul had an apartment. The Deacon, then a young man had been intensely grateful for the older man's time and hard work in educating him in everything that he needed to know about this wonderful faith that put no pressure on a believer, other than to live up to the basic rules and laws that the Deacon had always tried to live up to anyway.

And there was no more killing to be done.

Unfortunately, it also put Percy's little brother Tyson beyond his reach forever. As one person was baptized and sealed against the old world he had lived in, he was claimed by this amazing new world that let nothing of the old pagan ways in. And Tyson was a cyclope. The Hierodeacon missed his "little guy". He loved him so much! At least the Deacon's mother had taken Tyson in. She loved him too, as if Tyson were her own son.

Most people didn't realize that a church, what they thought of as a collection of beliefs administered by people who 'wore funny clothes' was actually very real and in touch with the Creator of the Universe at all times. All the stories from that amazing book, the Bible were absolutely true.

There was a time when the deacon was being hunted by his family, chiefly by his cousin. She was absolutely relentless and her hunting partners were no better. It was back in 2030, and they had actually cornered him in the vestibule of his own church, but for some reason they were unable to see him or touch him or feel him there. They could sense that he had been there at least but could not sense that he was there at that moment although he stood right next to them.

The Deacon had gotten terribly angry seeing them there. Although 15 years had passed since he had first entered the monastic life, they still looked the same as they all had when he entered the church in 2013. He literally shouted the ancient challenge to the Dark One, "ο Σατανάς βγαίνει από το σπίτι του Θεού"!

"Satan, get out of God's house"!

And then he hauled out the BIG guns; "Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἁγιασθήτω τό ὄνομά σου, ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου, γενηθήτω τό θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καί ἐπί τῆς γῆς. Τόν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τόν ἐπιούσιον δός ἡμῖν σήμερον καί ἄφες ἡμῖν τά ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καί ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν καί μή εἰσενέγκης ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλά ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπό τοῦ πoνηροῦ."

"Our Father, who art in Heaven…"

At the same time the deacon, who at that time was a newly ordained deacon, grabbed a flask of water from the holy water fountain in the very vestibule of his church and literally used it to imprison the huntresses and the pagan goddess with them. He threw the water all over them. The water swirled all over them; lightning began to form near the open door and then an unbearable light grew in the vestibule. All of a sudden the doors to the church burst open and they were ejected, all of them right onto the sidewalk. The water weighed them down like a lead weight on a fish, and for a few minutes they could not move, even the goddess. Her powers were negated completely and she realized for that short amount of time she had been rendered powerless, both completely and absolutely.

Some being or some _thing_ , she knew not what was giving her an unmistakable message; "Do not come into my house ever again or I will smite you down for all time. Do not attempt to go near he who has taken my symbol and left you and yours behind him. He is no longer yours. He is his own, and by his own choice he is Mine. Go back and tell the others to leave him be, even those who mean him no harm. I am keeping him from you all and none of you can do anything about it, all of you who consider yourselves "divinities".

"Who are you?", she called out.

An answer came back but it left her puzzled. Artemis knew that she'd heard it before, the words that is. But she had no idea what it really meant. It didn't apply to her in her world and so she had never really learned about it. Maybe her half-sister Athena would know?

The Voice answered her, "I AM".

She would take her Huntresses and go back to Olympus and there she would ask Athena before convening the council. That way she wouldn't look or sound stupid to the rest. So she called on her Huntresses to pick themselves up so that she could flash them back to the throne room. But they couldn't move, any of them! She had to help each Huntress up physically and then the worst thing in the world happened. She couldn't use her godly powers at all! Nothing!

They all took the subway back to Herald Square in Manhattan and walked into the Empire State Building's main lobby. One dirty goddess, 32 filthy Huntresses and eight hunting wolves who all looked like Lupa had just gotten done kicking their hairy butts and then rolled them in mud afterward all walked into the lobby of the Empire State Building and nearly touched off a riot. They'd been lucky and gotten their own subway car (it was off-rush hour just then), as the only two other occupants of said car took one look at them all and got off the train immediately. The wolves had that kind of effect on mortals… but only when they could be seen. How was it that they weren't made unseen by the Mist?

Artemis had never met the security man who sat the "special elevator desk" before and had to argue with the man and threaten him with her hunting knives in order to get the elevator key card. Everybody piled into the next two elevators with some of the Huntresses sitting on the backs of the wolves like children riding ponies.

It took a few minutes to get up to the top, but once they got out on the 600th floor they made their way to Athena's Temple. Artemis called to her half-sister and fellow goddess, but she needn't have bothered as Athena looked up just then to see the mob dirtying up the lobby of her precious library. Athena got up, her anger beginning to boil over at the mess when Artemis confronted her directly; "Can you tell me why certain things happened to me today just when we thought we found Perseus at some little church in Queens?"

Athena stood there with her arms folded underneath her ample breasts, and looked at the twelve-year-old form of a goddess who looked like she got put through a carwash.

"You had best begin at the beginning sister and leave nothing out".

About 10 minutes and a lot of details later, Athena stood there frowning, staring off into space for a minute.

"Well sister can you tell me what happened? How did a mere demigod eject us from the building with a few stale prayers and water?"

The expression on Athena's face grew cautious and she asked Artemis, "What name did that voice give you again?"

"The voice said simply, 'I AM'..."

Athena looked at Artemis, her face a mask of shock and disbelief.

"No, it cannot be…", and she ran for a small bookshelf near her table that contained a number of very thick books. She pulled one out that was quite thick, and written in funny lettering that Artemis recognized almost immediately as old Hebrew. She couldn't read it until she really concentrated on it and then she realized that the title of the book was one word, "Tanakh".

Athena looked up in her and said, "Do you know what this book is? It is what Christians call the Hebrew Bible. It contains the first five books of the "Old Testament", the first few books having been written originally by the Hebrew prophet Moses. If you will recall your early lessons this prophet approached what looked to him to be a burning bush on the side of Mount Hebron in the Sinai peninsula. It turned out to be a manifestation of the Hebrew God.

"Moses was commanded to go back into Egypt and give Pharaoh a message from the Hebrew God, and the message was to "Let My people go".

"When Moses asked what name he should give to the elders of his people so that they would know who it was gave Moses the message, the Voice in the bush told him simply, "Tell the elders only that you have been sent by 'I Am that I Am".

"In ancient Greece about the time that Christianity was really taking hold, we found that we had no power against the followers of this new faith. And those of our former believers and also of our own children who went over to this Faith were shut off from us. We could not follow them or find them anymore. They no longer belonged to us. Once they accepted the mark of Christian baptism, we had lost the battle. I know that it's amazing to hear this but it's absolutely true.

"I believe that it was Perseus who ejected you by invoking the power of this Hebrew God who is believed in by the Christians as well. If Percy has gone over to this faith, we will most likely never see him again".

Artemis then looked at Athena and asked, "Do you think this God is the reason why my powers seem to have failed? Does He actually have this power to do this to me, a goddess?"

Athena looked at Artemis and guessed that she hurt from head to toe. She was positively a mess. Her hair was completely askew, and had dried stiff and hard in the polluted fumes of the subway system. Her outfit was filthy and spoiled from all the dirt in the polluted air drying on it, and her silver trainers were ripped and in rags on her torn and bruised feet.

Wait….. BRUISED?

Athena shocked Artemis by next raising her voice very loudly and yelling for Artemis' brother, the god of medicine and healing.

"APOLLOOOOOOO! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW PLEASE! YOUR SISTER IS HURT AND NEEDS…you." The sun god had flashed right in when he heard his twin sister needed him.

Apollo took one look at his sister and started to break out in laughter but managed to hold it back a bit. He was able to put on a more professional air, and asked, "What happened, sister?"

"I was looking for Perseus. We did not go into that church with the intention of disrupting the church or disrespecting the God. We only wanted to find Perseus and bring him back, as father has directed us all to do for so many years".

Apollo frowned and said, "Which god are we talking about please? It might actually help if I knew what kind of powers we were dealing with here".

Athena looked right into Apollo's eyes and said,

"THE GOD. The Christian/Jewish God."

Apollo look like a deer caught in the headlights. He had heard stories of this before. He remembered several situations where minor gods had been stripped of their powers completely when priests of the new religion several thousand years ago began to pray over them when they threatened the members of a small congregation. It had happened just outside of Sparta and the end result was truly not very pretty for the former and now actually deceased gods. They didn't fade, there was no regenerating in Tartarus. They just died. And when they did die, there was no coming back because they died as mortals do. Some great power had turned several perfectly good, sound minor deities into true mortals. Not even demigods, but actual mortals. Apparently they upset this God and rather than allow these few former deities to continue to run around and bother His people, He decided to stop the problem right then and there.

That was about the year 256 AD, and all those deities were long dead now. As in mortally very d-e-d, dead. As in getting run down by an ox cart dead. Very messy. Apollo took a long look at his sister and asked her "Have you been able to use any godly powers? Anything at all?"

Artemis got a bored kind of look on her face, as if she had been asked this question one time too many and replied, "Noooooo dear brother. I've tried all my powers. Nothing is working.".

Apollo got a real funny look on his face and grabbed his sun-bow along with an arrow of sunlight, nocked the arrow and shot it into the sky through the aperture in the domed ceiling of Athena's temple/library. He was calling for a meeting of their fellow gods. Zeus needed to know about this NOW.

"Let's go to the throne room. We will have the Hunters walk over but we three must go right now".

Twenty minutes later everyone was assembled. The king of the gods sat in his throne and looked askance at his daughter Artemis' filthy appearance along with that of her Hunters and their rather washed-out wolves. Normally, the wolves looked rather clean and glowed silver, just like the huntresses. But not now. They kind of looked like they tried chewing on a cement truck and got chewed right back

Zeus was taken completely aback by his own daughter Thalia's extremely bedraggled appearance. Even her tiara that marked her as the lieutenant of the hunt was broken and missing a number of gems. Her black leather jacket was torn and burnt in several spots. Her "Death to Barbie" t-shirt was streaked with mud and filth.

"Thalia, daughter why are you and the other huntresses and even your wolves looking so filthy? How is it that you come before this assembly looking as if you just lost a great fight? Why would you not clean up before you came here?"

"Father, I… I…"; it almost seemed as if the demigoddess had been struck dumb.

She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders at her father and gave him a very lost look that came straight from her eyes. Gone was the usual sparks and brightness that signaled her demigod powers. Her eyes were now a dark brown, and she no longer had the silver glow of a demi-immortal. Formerly, her eyes had been bluish-white.

Zeus continue to look at her inquiringly and Thalia finally just gestured over at Artemis. Zeus looked over at Artemis and gave her the same inquiring look, to which she looked at her father straight in the eye. Zeus could not help but notice that Artemis was still in regular mortal height and form, and not in her usual godly height.

Something was really not right here because he could no longer sense his daughter as a goddess. His brother sitting next to him, Poseidon looked over at Thalia and smiled gently. "Thalia, can you please tell us what happened? Or would you prefer that your lady and sister told us?"

Thalia looked at her uncle and said, "Uncle, great lord I have absolutely no explanation that I can give you. I can tell you what I remember of the incident, but it all seems so fuzzy now. I'm actually having trouble remembering some of it and I think from the looks of my fellow Huntresses so are they".

All the gods now looked at Artemis and Zeus told her, "Daughter, I think that you had best attempt to tell us the story in full. Leave nothing out and do not bring in anything that is emotional. Just stick to the very facts and nothing else and all will be well, I promise you".

Artemis turned aside and walked out to a point in the throne room where she knew all the gods could see her easily.

"I am sure that you are all wondering why I am not at my godly height. To be sure, I do not know. I can only tell you that my godly powers seem to be very restricted right now as a result of an encounter with what my sister Athena tells me may be the Hebrew/ Christian God known simply as God or 'I Am'".

The older gods, the sons of Kronos and Rhea all gasped and stood up in their thrones. There was a lot of shouting and noise from all, which got the younger ones standing up in their seats yelling and screaming at each other to be quiet and let Artemis speak. All of a sudden, the noise was broken by a thunderous explosion from the Central Hearth in the center of the throne room.

A 50-foot version of Hestia stood there with flames emanating from all points on her body as if she were an ancient goddess of fire. Her voice took on earth-shaking proportions as she stared grimly at the entire assembly and ordered them in no uncertain terms to stop and to be quiet and to let Artemis continue her tale.

"CEASE THIS BICKERING NOW, YOU FOOLS! CAN YOU NOT SEE WHAT HAS HAPPENED? LET ARTEMIS SPEAK! WE KNOW NOTHING AS YET AND ALREADY YOU ARGUE AS IF YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN STUPID CHILDREN!"

The other Olympians were caught short by this display of raw and unbridled power. They were not used to Hestia acting in this manner, and it scared most of them half to death. Ares looked at her and could only think to himself that she had one of the most frightening visages he had ever seen.

Both Apollo and Hephaestus dealt with fire everyday; it was their native element, and yet their aunt's fire was something both horrific and frightening even to them. The power of the flames felt to the two gods as if it would sear their souls. And that frightened them.

"Thank you Aunt Hestia. To continue, this 'I Am' spoke to me and my Huntresses after we were all bodily ejected from the vestibule. We had followed Perseus these past two weeks, and we were using our wolves to follow his scent as a demigod. Nothing else seemed to work exactly and this brought us closer to him, I think. We could see the door to this little Orthodox Catholic Church open, and obviously someone had gone inside. The wolves began baying like hound dogs and we let them slip their leads and they ran up to the door of the church, pulling the door and scratching it very badly.

"My forward hunters, Atalanta and Phoebe both burst into the vestibule looking for the source of our wolves' attention. We all followed them inside when suddenly, out of nowhere we were splashed with water".

Poseidon sat up straight in his throne and leaned forward, and said to his niece, "Water? You say that you were all splashed with water, niece? Did you see from where or by whom?"

Artemis turned to her uncle and said, "No my Lord and uncle, none of us could see where the water came from. But we were splashed and all of a sudden we could hear chanting in Greek. Just then a great vibration occurred along with a flash of light, and we found ourselves thrown through the doors of the church, and out onto the concrete sidewalk. And we were all left exactly as you see us now. We haven't been able to clean up or change anything. And my powers will not work".

Artemis hung her head and said this last looking at the ground, her voice very forlorn and childlike. She seemed absolutely lost and with no explanation for what happened.

Her father stood up in his chair and ordered his son Hermes, the messenger of the gods to fetch Lady Hecate. Perhaps the T asitaness of magic and crossroads would know what was happening.

"My daughter, I cannot sense your very being as a goddess anymore. And I am truly hoping that what has happened in the past did not happen now. Perhaps Lady Hecate can help us sort this out, and possibly help you regain your abilities as a goddess. You are still my child, and as far as I know you are immortal. Even if this lasts for a while, time is on our side here".

"No it's not. Time is not on your side. Hermes told me what happened on the way over here just now, and if I am right then there is absolutely nothing to be done".

The speaker was in her human form, tall at about 5'11", with chocolatey dark hair and a generous and beautiful figure. She was dressed in a flowing purple gown bordered with gold and silver cloth, and her hair fell freely down her lower back. Her appearance was almost as interesting as that of Aphrodite's, and as she surveyed the throne room her gaze fell upon the now mortal sized goddess of the Hunt and the Moon.

"My Lady Artemis, please tell me the name that this deity gave you as their own. And please tell me precisely how they said it".

Zeus looked over at the gorgeous goddess, and smiled and thanked her profusely for coming so quickly. The Olympians didn't fear much, but Hecate should have been one of their number and was never permitted on the council because of her origins as a Titan. Her power could be pretty scary and she wasn't afraid to use it in ways that the Olympians didn't necessarily like. But her knowledge of all things arcane and occult was unparalleled by any other Olympian and this included Athena.

"Lady Hecate, I greet you and I thank you for coming so quickly. My daughter is in a rare and bad state this morning. She sought after Perseus Jackson, who disappeared from these precincts many years ago. She seems to have lost her abilities as a goddess and we are not exactly sure why. We were rather hoping that you could look at her and see if there was some way to unlock her powers again, as I am sure that they are still within her; simply locked away and in need of being restarted so to speak".

She looked at Zeus and regarded him with cool eyes. She could feel the amorous desire pouring off the great and well-muscled god, and knew that she was the object of his extreme desires. He had long wanted her as a bedmate, but had learned to his disadvantage that she could more than defend herself. He knew not to try to force the issue any further, but always continued to speak to her well.

"My Lord Zeus, you do know what is happening, and you are ignoring it. You say that she was looking for Perseus Jackson? Could it be then that she found him but could not see him? Could it be that you and your brothers and sisters and children do not now remember what happened so many millennia ago in the second century of the Christian settlement in Greece?"

Zeus looked crestfallen at this last statement. Despite all his paranoia and power-hungry behavior, he was still a loving father to his daughters. And he was very proud of both Athena and Artemis as well as Thalia. he did have a number of children who were spirits and nymphs, but very very few who were human heroes. He had almost as few who were goddesses.

He looked over at Hecate and simply said, "Please just see what you can tell us about this or do about this".

The goddess nodded curtly and turned to Artemis. She walked over to the goddess of The Hunt and put one hand on either of her shoulders. Artemis glanced at both of the hands and then back up into the eyes of the much taller goddess.

"Please keep eye contact with me at all times in the next few seconds and do not look away until I break my eyes from yours".

Artemis nodded somewhat nervously, not being used to such close physical contact with anybody. She met Hecate's eyes with her own and they began looking into each other's eyes very deeply. Artemis did not know what she saw in there, but all of a sudden she was in a different place. A very deep voice sounded around her in a room that was made out of white light. Two, doors appeared one on one side of the room the other on the other side of the room opposite the first door.

"CHOOSE! CHOOSE! CHOOSE!"

"WHAT?! What? What am I choosing? What!?"

"CHOOSE YOUR PATH. CHOOSE ONE DOOR. AND GO THROUGH THAT DOOR. OR DO NOT… AND THEN NOTHING WILL CHANGE FOR YOU AT ALL".

Suddenly Artemis gasped and was in the throne room again with Hecate still gripping her by her shoulders. And the smaller goddess broke her gaze with Hecate. Hecate looked at Artemis' memories and said to her "What? Why did you break eye contact with me? Hecate frowned and asked Artemis, "Why did you break your gaze from mine? Did something happen? Did you see something?"

Artemis looked nervously all over the place and then finally back at Hecate and nearly shouted at her

"YES! YES! I SAW… something".

Artemis quickly related everything that she saw and Hecate's mouth dropped open in shock. "You… YOU were given 'The Choice'?"

Athena quickly looked over Hecate and asked her, "What choice, milady? What choice was Artemis given?"

Hecate dropped her arms from Artemis' shoulders and turned to face the rest of the Olympian assembly. She grew in her height to about 15 feet so that she could meet their gazes evenly and her voice would be loud enough to carry. The other gods were kind of shocked by this, not realizing that Hecate even had this ability. Hestia just smiled, because she knew that Hecate had all of their abilities as Olympians... and then maybe a few that they did not?

"My Lords and Ladies, Lady Artemis is no longer a goddess".

There were gasps from all around the council chamber at this and Hestia again frowned at the lot of them and blew up to her 50 foot size. Everyone drew back at this in surprise, and all were quiet once again.

Hecate looked over at Hestia and nodded her thanks, and Hestia motioned with her hand for Hecate to continue what she was saying.

"Two millennia ago you called me to investigate several minor gods losing their nature and their powers. They had apparently attempted to interfere with a number of Christian priests then coming into Greece and spreading the word of the new Christian faith.

"You all know that Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism and has only the one deity. This one God is said to be the Creator spirit behind all else in the universe. He first appeared to the ancient Hebrews, to their prophet Moses after a 450 year absence from their lives. Their patriarch Joseph, had brought the Israelites into Egypt during a time of great famine and hardship in order to preserve the lives of his family and clan. They were small in number in those days, so close to the original patriarch of their clan, Abraham. This God promised Abraham "enough descendants that they would number more than the stars in the sky".

This God identified himself to the prophet Moses by telling Moses to answer any questions about Him by telling the elders of Israel in Egypt that His Name was "I Am". And this was the name that had been given to the elders of Israel centuries before at the beginning of their bondage in Egypt, by which they would know him who was to be sent by the Creator himself to lead them away from Egypt.

"I believe that it is this very God who destroyed the deification of our lesser brothers and sisters over 2000 years ago. And I further do believe in the complete and absolute Divinity of this one God, and that he is superior to all gods including ourselves. I have had a chance to research him over the intervening millennia, and I have learned much. I have spoken to Popes, Patriarchs, and even to one of the original 12 Apostles, the most personal and closest followers of the one called the Christ.

"The youngest of these apostles was named John and he lived for a time on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. This island has been off-limits to us all for millennia as it was first the residence of John in exile by order of the Roman emperors, and then it became his final resting place. It is holy ground now, sacred to that faith and beyond our control or reach forever. And there are several other islands around the area of Greece and Italy that enjoy the same status.

The goddess of the crossroads looked sorrowfully at Artemis and said to her, "I am truly sorry my lady, but there is absolutely nothing that I can do to help you. What has happened to you is completely beyond me and my paltry abilities to make you whole and as you once were...".

At that she turned away from the Olympians and walked towards the throne room doors; she stopped briefly halfway to the great bronze portals and turned halfway back. And as she turned she uttered these words of great finality, "... And never will be again".

The rest of the session turned into a complete shitstorm. Everyone was yelling and screaming, fingers being pointed and blames being ascribed to various gods and by various gods, and this time Hestia let them be. She returned to her eight-year-old form and to her hearth, and sat there and poked at the coals listlessly. She began thinking back to that fateful day when Percy Jackson last came to Olympus. She could remember it like it was yesterday although it had been many years before.

The greatest demigod, the hero of Olympus, bane of Titans and Giants alike, destroyer of all monsters and greatest leader of both the Roman and Greek camps in millenia had had enough of his life, living it for others instead of for himself. And when you thought about it, what he wanted was not so unreasonable. But Zeus… paranoid and unreasonable and always suspicious of plots against him that never existed except in his own imagination would not let him go and live his own life, away from the memories of a beautiful woman who broke his heart and left him alone forever.

His heart was terribly hurt with everything that he had gone through, and mostly for her. He had followed her willingly into Tartarus, into the hell below hell and this was in order to help her survive and find her way through. The only way to get through was to go through the Doors of Death. And this had to be done because of their quest anyway, but it was an opportunity that could not be passed up when Annabeth fell, and Percy saw his whole existence flashing before him without her. He didn't even have to think about it, he let go of his hand hold at the lip of the Pit and fell in after her. Willingly.

He even shielded her with his own body when it came to the fall so that she would not be hurt as badly, even if it meant his own death. Percy was always selfless that way. He was always more worried about his mother or Annabeth or the camp or Chiron or Tyson… anybody but himself. In his heart he always knew that he had the ability to persevere if he only tried, and he actually did. He and Annabeth walked out of the Doors of Death, helped along by Iapetus the Titan and Damasen the Giant. They brought the battle to Tartarus himself and his own actual personae, as well as over a million monsters so that Perseus and Annabeth could escape through the doors and shut them from their side as their allies shut them from their side of Hell.

No one never did find out what happened to Iapetus or Damasen; and most probably nobody ever would. It was a very sore point with Percy, and he had almost gone back to Tartarus to try and find out if he could help them. It took some very stern talking-to by a lot of people including his cousins Nico and Thalia, and even Jason Grace before he would stop on his self-dispatched mission back to Hell.

After all of that and a couple of years afterward as well, Annabeth suddenly pulled up stakes and left for Europe. She left Percy a note, didn't even say goodbye in person. She never said goodbye to Sally or Paul, but she did talk over her plans with her own father Fred. And he advised her not to go without saying goodbye to everybody and at least get closure between herself and Percy. Fred Chase really liked Percy, and knew that the young man loved his daughter with all his heart. Fred had hopes of walking Annabeth down the aisle to give her away to Percy in marriage, knowing that the young man would die to protect his daughter and surmount any obstacle to give her a good living and a happy life.

But Annabeth didn't have the courage to say goodbye, and she didn't have the heart to tell anybody what was truly in her own; that just being around Percy brought back all the memories of Tartarus and she could no longer go through sleepless night after sleepless night after sleepless night, thinking back on those horrific days in the Pit. She had seen Percy expose a terrible side of himself when he destroyed the goddess Akhlys. Percy sent all the poison back to Akhlys that she tried to kill both Annabeth and Percy with. She saw the glee and the anger and the hatred that was on Percy's face as he did it, savaged as he had been already by the environment in which they found themselves. It was only Annabeth calling out to him not to do it, not to go through with it that eventually stopped him just short of causing Akhlys to fade and go into the void.

That was the breaking point for Annabeth. But she could never "choke that out" to Percy. She just never had the courage to speak to him and tell him the truth, that what he did so frightened her that she didn't feel she could spend the rest of her life with him.

Honestly, she did try and she spent several more years with Percy and they weren't bad years for the most part. They had bad moments, yes they did. But her leaving the way that she did broke Percy as a man. He felt completely hollowed-out, with nowhere else to go emotionally. He had tried to speak to Hestia and his mother, and even tried to speak with Athena about Annabeth.

Athena had simply rebuffed him, thinking that Percy was trying to worm information out of her about Annabeth and that he should not have. She advised him to just move on and forget about her daughter, that her daughter was doing what was best for herself. Percy's last words to Athena before he left that day were, "Oh sure, when it comes to anybody else it's always what's best for them. But what about what's best for me? I never asked for anything for myself except for this. And you won't even help me when I ask for it. What point did it serve, my helping Olympus and protecting it when Olympus won't protect me now that I need it?"

And Athena just shrugged and turned away from Percy. Hestia rather thought that that made up Percy's mind for him. She remembered that he came up to Olympus a few days later and looked around for her at her hearth. When he came in he didn't see her right away, so he just sat and waited. And finally he called for her by name, and so she came to him and sat next to him. She wasn't sure what to expect.

But what he said next absolutely blew her away.


	3. Chapter 3

Well, well, well… so Percy got dumped. Guess we all saw that coming.

NOT!

But no, really? Percy was always oblivious to the minds of women and what went on inside them. In Annabeth's case, even more so. Tartarus really did damage them both and none of their 'rents, mortal or godly ever got them the kind of help that both of these two children really needed. And Dionysus was less than no help at all, predictably enough. Athena even less. She saw this coming and… did… NOTHING.

Welllll, not for Percy anyway. And Poseidon?

Let's look in on Percy's favorite fishing buddy and the rest of the big old happy go lucky family…

And by the way, I have no rights to PJO, PJHOO, Apollo's Oracles or anything else therein. That's just Uncle Rick Riordan at work for ya! But this plot is most definitely mine! By the by, no one faith is being shoved at anybody here. Insofar as this tale is concerned, it's two 'pantheons' and one man's choice… or choices?

Percy's New Path. Chapter 3

 _July 2012_

Annabeth woke up into the fifth hour of her flight over the Atlantic Ocean. She was about to land at Orly airport in Paris, and was a little stiff from having slept in a sitting position for most of a very short night.

The beautiful blonde deliberately took the red-eye flight out of JFK airport in New York City and she had a connecting flight that would take her on to Athens in Greece. She planned things so that there would be at least a five-hour layover in Paris; she wanted to squeeze in a little shopping before continuing on.

Even though she'd dressed down for the flight in order to be comfortable, she had been pestered by a couple of European men who were absolutely determined to get a phone number or an address where she'd be staying. They had both insisted they could show her "a world she never knew existed" if she would only let them take her out, either one alone or both together.

Nope! (pop that "p")

The one fellow who had said that to her, an Austrian named Gunther almost drew semi-hysterical laughter from the already very upset young woman, and even his partner Alois chuckled at the so very obvious pickup line.

No, Annabth was still emotionally all over the place after leaving Percy the way that she did. And mentally she wasn't in a good place at all. Dating other people was a loooong way off.

Her mother tried to convince her that this leaving this way was the best way to go as "it would provide for the least amount of conflict between herself and the son of Poseidon". Athena had a plan to get on top of Percy before he could get destructive with his earthshaker powers and his water control powers.

When Percy got angry, his hydro-kinesis powers were positively deadly as were his Earthshaker powers. He'd used these powers in battle many times and it had caused the deaths of tens of thousands of monsters, and literally hundreds of demigods who had all dared to oppose Olympus openly in war. Not to mention blowing up Mt St Helens over some telekhines. Percy always regretted having to use them, but when the occasion arose he just went ahead and did it. He didn't even think about it.

That was the nature of War. And also of Percy.

Athena had assured Annabeth that she would take care of Percy along with Dionysus and help from Hestia as well, not to mention more help from Percy's father. This was the most powerful demigod in human history and there was no sense trying to say anything otherwise. It was going to take the four of them just to keep him somewhat calm. And also getting him to relax and become conscious of what he might wind up doing if he wasn't careful.

Annabeth didn't want to leave him this way, and the best part of her didn't want to leave at all.

But another part of her wanted to leave even more than that and she knew that if she didn't jump on this chance she might never get it again.

The bottom line was that between all the terrible memories she had to deal with every night, memories brought on just by Percy's presence not to mention memories brought on by the horrific fighting and the horrific environs alone of the Pit as well as having to deal with Percy's even worse memories, his feelings of responsibility for the death of every demigod killed in the Titan and Giant wars, as well as the conflicts between Romans and Greeks and how he felt he was responsible for not stopping it all, the young woman just could not cope anymore.

Her mother knew that if she didn't get her daughter out of there, Annabeth would break down completely and that beautiful mind of hers, that sharpened and wonderful tool that was a tribute to both Athena and Frederick Chase would be lost forever in the twilight of her own grief and anguish. Even Frederick agreed with this. He wrote Annabeth and offered her a place with her family for as long as she liked.

But Annabeth knew that Percy would go looking for her there before he went anywhere else. So no, not an option, unfortunately.

There was just no easy answer here, and that was the bottom line. And it didn't make things any easier for Annabeth that both Dionysus and Hestia agreed with Athena and her take on the whole matter.

But the one thing that tipped Annabeth into going ahead with it was the fact that even Sally Jackson agreed with the four gods as well. Sally knew how broken they both were and had seen them in their nightmares when they slept over, and she was truly frightened for them both. She'd called on Hestia and Poseidon to talk with her. Paul had sat in on that discussion and his opinion was the same as his wife's.

It was a warm May evening in 2012. You could smell the strawberries blossoming as well as the beautiful smell of roses, jasmine, and other assorted wonderful flowers and herbs coming from the Demeter cabin. The smell of lilac and lavender often served to calm Annabeth, and often enough it helped Percy to calm down sometimes as well.

Lately, Chiron had given permission on a standing basis for Percy and Annabeth to come out of their cabins at any time of the night that they wished, and the harpies had all been made aware of it. The two lovers would often just meet over by the fire pit at the dining pavilion and sit together, holding hands and not saying anything.

They each drew a lot of comfort that way from the other, and sometimes Hestia would sit with them and they would all talk.

Or not.

Sometimes the goddess would make hot chocolate for all of them and they would just sit comfortably together, feelings of home and warmth washing over them like waves. Percy and Annabeth both loved those nights.

On several occasions they found themselves in bed together the next morning, and not in their own cabins. They didn't have any memory of going back to Percy's cabin and falling asleep and it turned out that Hestia simply put them to bed after they fell asleep sitting up with her. After each of those instances they got the best sleep that they'd had in a very long time. It seemed as if Hestia was the only goddess trying to help them.

But something is better than nothing and Hestia at least was putting in the effort. Unfortunately, even with all the efforts that she was putting into this, she knew that she needed much more for the both of them. She was able to feel their emotions and their memories and they would both sink into these and would often describe them to her as they all sat there together; it was all still so raw and real.

Hestia determined that something had to be done and she decided to speak with her younger brother and thence with Annabeth's mother, her niece.

It was about two weeks after that night that Poseidon put in one of his 'obligatory fatherly' appearances at cabin three.

"Hello son. How are you feeling?"

"Dad! Hi! I didn't know that you were here! I just got out of the shower, so please pardon me for not being dressed! If you give me a minute I'll put on some shorts and a t-shirt and at least then I'll be decent".

Percy blushed a little bit, not being used to his father visiting when he was not dressed. He had never belonged to a YMCA or any other gymnasium, and never got undressed in front of anybody. Not even Annabeth. They hadn't "gotten there" yet. Percy sensed that she didn't want to "go there" so far, and he didn't want to push her at all. That wasn't how you treated a woman who you were supposed to love, or at least respected.

The truth was that while he absolutely respected Annabeth and they had been friends for years, their "little fling" wasn't really so much of a raging love affair as everybody thought it was. At least not for him. He did sense a little more coming from her than he thought he was putting in, but the truth was that at the point he was at emotionally he just didn't want to lose the one touchstone, the one anchor in life that he really had. He didn't know what he would do without her.

As things really stood, Grover was a really good friend and he loved the heck out of the guy, but he had more in common with Jason Grace than he did with Grover Underwood. And Percy had far more in common with Annabeth than he did with Jason or with Grover. He found Annabeth amazingly easy to talk to for the most part, but he felt that sometimes she wanted more from him than he was ready to give.

Tartarus had destroyed more than any one of them could even suspect.

Percy had lost the ability to truly love.

"So Percy, I understand that you've been having a hard time lately What with all the memories of that terrible place". Even his own father didn't want to call Tartarus by it's own name.

"Yeah, it's been rough lately dad, really really rough. Truth is, I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping. I wake up a lot in the middle of the night".

"Really? I had heard from my brother 'the king', that his daughter Thalia was here recently along with the rest of The Hunt. They were going out on night exercises when they heard screaming coming from here, this cabin. Thalia ran to check it out and when she opened the door, you were sitting up in your bed screaming and yelling at some goddess to "stop the poison". You would do anything she wanted "but don't hurt Annabeth". They could not wake you.

"My niece the goddess, looking on you soothed your dreams. She called on Morpheus to take you deeper into slumber and away from the realm of dreams. She shined her Moonlight upon you so that you would know peace in your rest that night. She told me that after that you did go back to sleep and turned over, but she never ever saw a nightmare like that in all her millennia of existence.

"She was truly shaken, son.

"Thalia was shaking terribly and did not want to leave your side. Artemis convinced her to leave you be and let you sleep, and explained what she did to help you. Truly, my niece was concerned that if Thalia stayed by your side that night she would get so involved in your life that she would find it impossible to continue on in The Hunt.

"My brother would not approve of that, as his daughter bears a tremendous responsibility for The Hunt and has done an excellent job, so far. She has led them in battle and has fought with you side by side and back to back on a number of occasions. She was injured at the Battle for the Throne Room and has acquitted herself with honor at all times.

"And although no one else has said anything to me so far about this I would know for myself if you have any feelings for Thalia of a romantic nature. Or perhaps she simply has feelings for you and it's all one-way?

"Please do tell me son, because you seem to be in pain from a great many different directions and it's finally reached the point where even the council is aware of it. I don't need to tell you how little they take notice of what's going on even under their own noses here at camp. If it weren't for the fact that my brother depends upon the demigods as an army, he wouldn't even think about you. That's just how he is. He does love his daughter however, and only wants what is best for her. Whatever that is."

Wow! Percy was just blown away by all this. This was just about the longest conversation that he'd ever had with his father and certainly the most in-depth. Poseidon was right in saying that Percy had a lot on his mind, and it did seem to be coming from all different directions at once.

But this sudden caring attitude by a father who had barely ever talked to him, a father who had barely ever seen him that he was aware of?.. Percy just couldn't figure out why what he was feeling mattered so much to this man, this god who had seven-tenths of the world to take care of in his domains. How did Percy fit into any of this? Had Poseidon spoken to his mother yet?

"Dad, have you spoken to Mom yet about me?"

"Well, a little. Both your mother and Paul seem to think that you and Annabeth were trying to handle whatever was happening between you by yourselves, and all was not well with you both. They told me that you had been by and stayed a few days and spoke to them. But I could see that something was wrong; it was in their eyes.

"And when I asked about it your mother told me how one night you had such a terrible nightmare that you woke up screaming at the top of your lungs. Your next door neighbor knocked on the door and asked if she should call the police. Annabeth took to your bed and calmed you down that night and your mother permitted this.

Your mother is very upset Percy. And although both she and Paul defended you completely, they are both very, very worried.

"And after an incident like that, can you blame them? I know that you've gone through hell and back quite literally and figuratively. But you need help son, and so does Annabeth. And very badly. I don't know who needs what, and I'm certainly not an expert on personal relationships, which we both know. But I do know it's time for you both to get outside help".

Percy laughed slightly at that "personal relationships" comment, and his father grinned at him. Just then the god of the Oceans did something that Percy never thought he would do; he put his arm around Percy's shoulder and pulled him into a very warm hug.

"I know that I haven't been a very attentive father for a long time Percy, but I did it in order to keep you safe. If I had continued to come around as much as I did when you were just a tot, my brother would have found out about you and he might have killed you. He tried to kill your cousins Nico and Bianca and did manage to kill their own mother. It almost led to open warfare between my older brother and the King. That one act DID trigger off what the mortals refer to as 'World War 2'".

"I didn't want that to happen over you and your mother. If that had happened it would have meant War to the death between he and I. And I never would have given up until I took his life. He knows that. And now you do too. Sometimes my son, you have to do things that you don't want to do in order to keep the peace in this world. And for a god that is our most important job. And for a father and the lover of a good woman, it's even more important than that. Are you beginning to see why I could not come around when you were much younger?"

Percy ran his hands through his hair and grabbed the back of his neck with his hand, massaging his neck. He was getting a headache from all this talk. He didn't want to hear a bunch of excuses for old history, because the bottom line was if he could not ensure that he was going to be there for any child of his, he'd much rather just not be a father.

He would rather not have a wife and child in his life just to condemn them to the kind of life that he had growing up. It wasn't the worst life he could have had, but it sure wasn't anything to write home about. That was the chief reason he'd turned down godhood at the end of the Second Titanomachy. But what could he say to his father? He resorted to platitudes.

"I do understand Dad, I really do. And I know that you did the best that you could with the tools that you had. It's just that the life that I had as a child was a lot less than the life that I really wanted. I wanted a dad who could come over and play catch with me or take me out for a slice of pizza. I wanted a Dad who I could talk to whenever I needed to, and I wanted mom to have someone there for her everyday too. Can you see my side of this? Because there's always two sides to every story you know".

Poseidon smiled softly and looked at his son and shook his head gently. "Where did you get all this wisdom from my son? You have said everything that was in my heart, and for every argument that I had in my own favor I know that I did not have an excuse for doing what I did. The worst thing about it was that I couldn't train you up when you were a child. And a good father would have done that.

"We Olympians are stuck with a lousy system and a lousy king. I love my younger brother, he took an enormous risk getting us out of our father's belly and he took even more risks leading us into combat. But he's stuck by what it was that he wanted, and any changes we then made for this this world were all for the better as a result… then.

"He may seem pompous and foolish at times and he may seem sometimes to be something of a horse's ass, but he's still my brother. And as much as we fight and argue, I still love him. We didn't treat our older brother Hades very well, but I love him too.

"I have an idea, if you're willing; why not come down to Atlantis and train with me for a while? You know the Atlanteans do want to get to know you better, and they all know of your exploits. There's even a statue of you outside my palace now, right in front of the public doors!

"I issued a proclamation a few months back stating that you were known on the surface as the Hero of Olympus and that you were truly worthy of any gifts that the gods wished to bestow, but you'd chosen less for yourself and more for others. How you'd unselfishly made things better for all demigods. This proclamation is inscribed on an Atlantean Silver plaque upon the plinth of your statue.

"I told them all about you and the general consensus is that you're very special. Everyone does want to get to know you, and even my wife and your older brother want to get to know you better. I think that if you treat them with respect they might just treat you with real respect".

Percy smiled at this as the idea really did appeal to him. He'd always wanted to spend time with his father in training himself up as well as getting help from his father and from his older brother in learning to use his powers better. This all did really appeal to him. But he didn't want to leave Annabeth by herself.

He worried for her and he worried about her nightmares, her dreams and the fact that if they were separated they might have no one to go to who could understand or help them, either of them. So he decided to talk to Annabeth about it and maybe get permission for her to come down to Atlantis with him. But this was not what Poseidon wanted. He felt that some time away from Annabeth might break the cycle of the bad dreams because if she wasn't there, he might not think about what happened quite so much. Or at least that was his theory. But he didn't want to scare Percy off by saying no right away so Poseidon thought about it for a moment, and then turned to his son

"I have no problem with Annabeth visiting for a while, but I do not know how her mother will feel, and Annabeth is within her mother's domain. You will have to get permission from Athena for Annabeth to visit with us and then only for the amount of time that Athena indicates is acceptable.

"What you have to remember Percy, is that Athena and I have a rivalry that goes back thousands of years and she may not want Annabeth below the surface of the oceans where she cannot see her or know what's happening with her. Mothers can be like that with their daughters you know. But I would say try".

So Percy took his father's advice and he tried. He made an appointment to go see Athena, and she listened quietly and looked at Percy very seriously the whole time, nodding her head and acting for all the world as if she thought that it was a good idea.

And then she said no

"Annabeth is to me what you are to your father. She is precious Perseus, and I will not risk her under 7 miles of ocean. A lot can happen to her down there and you will not be able to stop what you are doing as you will be training. Annabeth cannot breathe underwater, or have you forgotten that little fact? And insofar as you would not wish her ill, all the good wishes in the world will not help her if she is choking for air and the water pressure closes in on her and squashes her flat like a piece of paper".

Percy couldn't argue the point so after some few mildly argumentative remarks, he finally apologized "for wasting her time" and he got up and left. It never occurred to him to ask for his father's blessing for Annabeth so that she could exist below the waves. He resolved never to approach Athena again.

Ever.

Percy felt that his father would have offered to do it if it were at all possible anyway but since he did not, maybe it wasn't possible. Percy didn't think that Annabeth living in an air bubble would exactly appeal to her when they might be down there for several weeks. And she wouldn't have any freedom of movement anywhere in this city since the entire city was open to the oceans. All the Atlanteans breathed water.

That was one of the big differences between them and surface dwellers of course. And all the legends of them being able to breathe air and breathe water were so much garbage. They were water breathers and the surface people were air breathers and never the twain shall meet. At least not this time.

Percy started to head back for the elevator that would take him down to the street level when he got a sudden urge to visit the throne room. He wanted to visit the throne room more than anything and could not have told you why.

When he got there he saw then it was almost completely empty. Apollo and Hermes were sitting in their thrones, playing chess. Both gods heard him come in and looked up at the same time. Apollo called out first.

"Hey cuz, how you doing today? You have a meeting with somebody Perce? We can take this game elsewhere".

Hermes looked over at Percy and realized he was very bothered about something. Hermes had taken a real shine to Percy after Luke died, and they had grown closer than most, becoming truly friendly. He walked over to Percy and put his hand on Percy's shoulder.

Hermes was about 2 or 3 inches taller than Percy and could see that something was really wrong. He thought he knew what it was, it was that damned pit. But there was more to it than that. Hermes knew that whatever was bothering Percy had to be bothering Annabeth just as much.

Luke had always loved Annabeth like a younger sister, and Hermes was very well aware of his son's feelings for the younger woman. Hermes was very happy that Percy and Annabeth were together, because he was very protective of Annabeth and in his heart, Percy was the best man for her.

"Hey Big Man, what's shakin? Are you okay? Cuz you don't look it".

Percy looked back at Luke's dad and just smiled a sad smile.

"I was up to see Athena about something and then I got a sudden urge to come here but I don't know why I did".

The messenger god thought that he knew why. He could feel another presence in the room and he looked over at the hearth. Sitting there was his eldest sister, Hestia. She was in her adult form now, and was absolutely ravishingly beautiful. She was dressed very modestly and Hermes could swear that she looked a lot like Sally Jackson right then. Hermes was well acquainted with Sally, had brought many messages to her from Poseidon over the years as Percy grew up.

Percy's eyes followed his and Hermes registered the fact that Percy looked shocked. he thought that he was looking at his mother for a minute and then Hestia looked over at Percy.

"Come to the hearth Perseus, come and sit with me. Come home to me. I have hot chocolate for you and we can talk for a while or just sit together".

Percy just smiled and excused himself and walked on over. Both gods looked at each other and shimmered out of the throne room immediately. They realized that their sister had to talk to Percy and they both knew what was going on with the demigod.

This was private business between Percy and Hestia, and Athena and Poseidon. It wasn't up to them to get involved although both of them knew that they would like to help Percy. But neither of them knew how exactly to help.

They both felt a little bit lost in this, and Hermes reflected that as lost as he felt, Percy had to feel a lot more lost than that. And he was absolutely correct. Right then Percy felt absolutely lost beyond any level of reason.

And very soon, it would be worse. ''Way worse.


	4. Chapter 4

Wow. So many readers! I cannot believe all the interest in this tale. I was asked by one reader if this is going to be a "religion story". Well, yes and no. What we all tend to forget is that the old Greek gods who became the Roman gods were at the heart of a religious belief system that was at least a thousand to two thousand years older than the Christian system. It was a contemporary of the ancient Hebrews and their system of beliefs, and it's also about their heroes and adventures and bravery and love stories and everything else that we love about the Percy Jackson universe. As for which of the competing faiths is stronger or better, I'm not going to try and get that far. It should be sufficient for now that when someone actively chooses to go to a different faith, that faith and its core beliefs takes over and acts as a spiritual 'shield'. Percy is 'shielded' from his old life by the Christian faith that he adopts. And all of the loss that everyone feels at his absence, the losses that the gods are going to go through, are all something that I want to bring out in these chapters. Tyson is going to take a big hit, and so is Poseidon. And what Poseidon goes through is going to change his life, as immortal as that may be.

So please don't get upset at the directions that I'm taking. My last story had a lot more to do with sex, and this one has a lot more to do with religion. But it also has a lot to do with the pain and the anguish that Percy and Annabeth both go through as a result of their terrible time in Tartarus and dealing with all of the gods who were implacable in their hatred for the Olympians and especially for Annabeth and Percy. All of that hatred and all of that anger is too much for any one human to take, but it does have to go SOMEWHERE.

But where?

Annabeth is going to have her problems too. There will be chapters where we deal with just Annabeth. And then there will be chapters that will combine more of these individuals into the story. I can see this one going for a long time! I just hope that a lot of you stay along for the ride!

One more thing, PLEASE do read and REVIEW! The reviews are what I live for. They help me become a better writer. And I have enjoyed reading every one of them from all of my stories so far. So thanks for reading and here we go with the next chapter!

 _Artemis_

The eight-year-old figure of Artemis sat by the Central Hearth in the throne room. She was still in shock over what she had been told by Lady Hecate. So she was no longer a goddess? This other God who she couldn't even see had taken away her powers? How could this possibly be?

Other than the Creator, Chaos, who could possibly be nearly as powerful as the Olympian gods?

She stirred as she felt a presence next to her. It was her Aunt Hestia. Well, it was her Hearth after all. Artemis was still silent, just sitting there and saying nothing, kind of staring at her toes. They were small and pink, a child's toes all tied up in her new sandals. And she wondered how she was ever going to get through life stuck in this eight-year-old body of hers. She had regressed in age. Artemis was getting younger.

"Artemis, what are you thinking right now?"

"Auntie Hestia, I'm just sort of thinking a lot of things at once. Are my Hunters all right? Where are they now?"

"Chiron came with Annabeth Chase and took them back to Camp Half-Blood. There are two who are Roman demigods and they will go to Camp Jupiter tomorrow morning. Jason Grace and Frank Zhang will get them in the morning along with a squad of legionaries from the first cohort".

The little girl thought about this for a moment and said, "Oh."

Then she looked over at her aunt and said, "You know, I would really like to see them before they go. I don't know when I'll ever get to see them again…"; her voice trailed off as she began to shed tears quietly. She had spent hundreds of years with some of them, decades with others and more than a millennia with two of them. They were more than just friends. They felt to her like daughters and she was very proud of them all. In fact, she loved them like a mother would love a daughter, every last one of them.

"Take my hand child, for you are a child now. And you have always been as a child to me, as I am your aunt. I will take you to the hearth at Camp Half-Blood and then I will bring you back up here to Olympus so that you may stay in your palace. But I fear that you will find that many things have changed in just a few hours since you last saw the Hunters. You may find that they don't remember you as well as they once did. You are being written out of Olympian and human history, just as our brothers and sisters from two millennia ago were when they were mortalized as a result of antagonizing the Christian priests. I don't know what's going to happen with you, but I am here for you every step of the way. You are loved my niece, very very much. And your brother very surely does love you and fully remembers you as do the rest of us gods. But for some reason you are fading from human consciousness. And none of us know what that exactly means for the future. I think that you will simply become a normal human and will live your life that way. But again, I am not quite sure".

Artemis took Hestia's hand in hers and all of a sudden they had flashed to Camp Half-Blood. Artemis could hear the singing coming from the amphitheater where the nightly sing-along was taking place. The sounds were happy and kind of jolly. The campers were singing the old standard song, "John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith", and the bonfire was leaping merrily.

The two women walked nearer to the firelight and Artemis was able to pick out her lieutenant, Thalia Grace. Thalia was no longer wearing her tiara denoting her rank, and Artemis didn't see a silvery glow around her.

The former goddess was able to pick out her former Hunters who all sat together as a group, although two seemed to be sitting together at the end of their bench as if apart from the rest. These two were the Romans, Kristara and Bobbi. They were fraternal twins, sisters and daughters of Ceres.

All the others were singing and kind of rocking back and forth to the music, but the Roman twins just sat there, kind of mouthing the words. The Greeks were all laughing and smiling and rocking, and just having a rollicking good time.

Like nothing bad had happened. Nothing at all.

Hestia led Artemis toward the center of the activities. But something inside her caused Artemis to pull back. "No, Hestia, no! I don't want to go near the flames! Something is wrong here!"

Hestia stopped walking forward, but still held Artemis' hand. She was concerned that Artemis felt something wrong or bad in the area and so paid real attention to her misgivings.

"Do you feel something in particular, perhaps something familiar? Does it have anything to do with what happened earlier today?"

"I-I-I don't know! I'm not s-s-sure, Auntie! But I'm getting a feeling that if we step into the center to talk to these demigods everything will change for me and there will be no going back".

Hestia made a decision to wait until the sing-along was over. Then they would follow the group back to their cabin and speak with them there. She expressed this to the childlike ex-goddess who quickly agreed with her.

A half hour later, the sing-along started to break up and groups started going back to their cabins. Hestia had caused them both to become invisible so as not to cause any crowding around them by any of the campers who might recognize either of them. They both saw Chiron coming toward them, a very concerned look on his face.

"My ladies, may I help you? You are here rather late with a new camper for us Lady Hestia". The old Centaur was actually Artemis' uncle. Didn't he recognize her? Had he also forgotten her? Suddenly, Artemis felt an ice cold hand gripping her heart and went into a cold sweat. This was it! This was the acid test. Chiron was not a god, although he was conditionally immortal. If he no longer remembered Artemis then there was no hope for her in this world at all. She could only pray that her mother, Leto would remember her and accept her on the Isle of Delos, the isle of Artemis' birth. Her mother still lived there, although she was free to go wherever she wanted. Perhaps she could live with her mother? Would her mother even remember her?

"Chiron, this is Lady Artemis. She is in her eight-year-old form and because of some great tragedy today has lost her powers as a goddess. It is the same incident that you were told of earlier that occurred to the Hunters who were placed with you this afternoon".

Chiron began to look at Artemis studiously, with a look on his face of concern, but without a look of recognition. The moments began to stretch when he said, "I am sorry my ladies, but I do not recognize this young lady. Lady Hestia, you say that her name is Artemis? I do not know of any goddess named Artemis. I know of the young women that you speak of of course, and they have all been placed in the unnamed cabin as was specified by Lord Zeus. But I recall no "goddess Artemis"; I apologize and I have no idea why this should be so".

Artemis fainted on the spot.

Sunlight began to filter in and the darkness of her sleep receded. She began to awaken slowly, and she could hear someone say, "Wow! You've been out for two days! How are you feeling, sister?"

A cool compress was placed gently across her forehead and she slowly opened up her eyes as she sat up in the bed. It was very comfortable, and she wished that she didn't have to get up. But she felt an extreme urge to use a toilet and a large pair of gentle hands helped her to a standing position. A softer and smaller hand took her by her small hand and began to lead her along a path that ended in a bathroom.

"Niece, use the toilet and wash your face and hands. There are towels by the sink and we will get you anything else that you need. I will bring you clothing so that you have clean things to wear, and we will brush your hair in a little while. I will draw a tub for you soon. Let me know when you are done with the toilet and I will come in and begin to help you."

Artemis recognized the voice as her Aunt Hestia's, and she could hear other voices outside as well. Her brother's was among them along with Athena's calm tones and she could hear her father's murmuring as well. Having just woken up, she still couldn't see well just yet.

…" but Chiron didn't know her either! He is older than we are and he didn't know her! How could he, oldest of all the children of Kronos and Rhea not know my daughter?"

A female voice; "Father, I do not have an answer for you. The only thing that seems to make sense is that this God is virtually all powerful and can enforce any issue that he decides to do damage to us in. Up until now, we thought that we were the "all-powerful Olympians". We have simply ignored the Christians for the most part, and now this has happened close to home because one of our youngest simply forgot to pay attention to her lessons when she was younger. There is no excuse for this. I think that Artemis was simply caught up in her own hubris and she thought that she had Perseus cornered, but forgot her limits. That is the only thing that I can think of, the only explanation that I can come up with. We may have to propitiate this God, and I am not sure how you intend to do something along those lines. And I do not see Him restoring my sister to her status. He has never done it before." A male voice, her brother spoke next.

"I have been doing some reading in the Hebrew Bible and it seems that "I Am" accepts sacrifices of rams and spotless lambs. The remains must be treated in a certain way and must be offered to his priests, so I think we must find a Hebraic priest and offer him the sacrificial meats to be offered to his family and to other priests of his kind.

"The Christians have a different kind of a sacrifice, one involving bread and wine and it seems very simple to do. But you need to have one of their priests for this. A Hebraic priest cannot do it. Something involving their core beliefs and how they are consecrated to their various priesthoods? Not sure about it all just yet, but perhaps we could ask a priest? Or a Jewish scholar of some sort? Or even just a Christian? Do any of us know any Christians?"

Silence reigned supreme as everyone thought without speaking and Artemis opened the door.

"Aunt Hestia? Would you please help me wash and dress?"

'PLEASE'? And 'HELP ME'? ARTEMIS?

All four Olympians looked at each other and passed the thought between them that this kind of speech was completely unlike the Artemis they'd all known for four millenia. She was getting even younger. And they were a little bit frightened…

What if they were next?

 _Sally and Paul's NYC Townhouse, later that week_

A knock on the door brought the beautiful but now older Sally Blofis to her front door. She'd seen on the monitor screen a well-dressed couple whose faces she recognized, but whom she'd never met before.

Sally opened the door and said without preamble,

"Hello, won't you please come in?"

The couple, he well built at 6'3", with a well-groomed black beard and dressed in a three piece navy blue pin-striped suit and she, at 5'9" and in 3" heels and a lovely dark grey Chanel design with appropriate gloves and platinum jewelry, liberally sprinkled with diamonds entered and wordlessy followed Sally inside her front drawing room.

"Tyson, sweetie; we have company. Could you please get some coffee and tea going? Thank you, my love!"

The young Cyclope smiled to go do as he was asked by his adoptive mother. He went right on into the kitchen and called the maid, a middle aged Costa Rican woman named Marina to help with the refreshments. He knew who these "visitors" were. They were expected. And daddy would be there soon as well.

Tyson had made enormous progress in his education over the intervening 15 years, and was currently studying for his baccalaureate degree in economics. His time spent in the mortal world with the Blofis' had been to his great advantage and he had found a true family and all the love that he was missing before. He still missed his big brother though.

In the drawing room, Sally seated the king and the queen in comfortable chairs next to each other. Her series of novels had taken off like cannon shots across the United States and had caught on in Europe and then in Japan. They were political thrillers with a supernatural element, and an amazing cast of heroes that sounded very suspiciously to Hera like a bunch of demigods she knew.

But she had read the books vociferously, enjoying every page and admiring Sally for the amount of work that she was willing to put into such a project. And to her mind, Sally was the perfect wife, balancing both home and family equally along with a writing career that never took her very far from her husband and daughter or their adopted son. She wondered about Sally's first son, and where in the world he could be at this time.

She honestly missed Percy a fair bit these days. Gone were the days when she could simply call and command him to attend the gods for some quest or other chore. He had surprised everybody by suddenly absenting himself from their world on an extremely permanent basis.

And that was his choice. He was free to make it as far as they were concerned, all of them having taken a lesson from Artemis and her misfortune. They were there to see Sally about Artemis this time and not about Percy. Sally had never given them any information about Percy, saying that it was strictly between Percy and his father and the Almighty. Hera had always wondered about that, "Almighty"; it had given her much pause until very recently.

But every Olympian knew what it meant now.

Zeus went first; "Sally, thank you very much for having us in your home today. I hope that we will get a chance to see Paul as well. We know that he's busy but meeting up with a man who is an intellectual on a level with my own daughter is a rare thing among mortals, and the two of you are well respected by us all, especially after helping out in the Battle of Manhattan. None of us have ever forgotten the fact that you both raised arms in our favor and in support of Percy and the demigods.

"We do hope that you can help us out today and we're going to ask you for a very large favor. We are in need of your help in terms of contacting someone because if left to our own devices we would not be able to do this. I would like to wait for my brother for a few minutes; he seems to be running a few minutes behind but he hasn't been well lately".

Sally quietly pursed her lips. She was an extremely handsome woman, a mother of three; Percy, Estelle and Tyson. And competent almost beyond belief. And any request by any god had to be looked at very very carefully, which she very well knew.

"Sure, I don't mind waiting for Poseidon. I haven't seen him in quite a while and it would be very nice. Paul is away right now at a conference of college presidents and he won't be back for about 3 days as the plans stand. My daughter is in school today and Tyson is here; he had a day off and is studying for his final exams at NYU. We are so proud of him!"

Hera smiled and chimed in at this point, "And so are we! Tyson has achieved so much in the last 15 years that I cannot believe he is the same great warrior whom we appointed general of the Cyclope Armies of Olympus. And he still holds that position to this day you know! He has made his father very, very proud as well and we are all extremely grateful to you and Paul for having adopted Tyson into your beautiful family. You have done more than you know for us all, and it actually pains us that we are asking you for yet another favor.

"This one will require your writing to several people perhaps and helping us make a contact in a church. You see, we are in dire need of help and it is on behalf of Lady Artemis, my husband's daughter, his youngest immortal godly daughter. It seems that she has lost her godly status and powers. And this may be a matter that concerns a church".

The doorbell rang again, and this time Marina went to get it. A few minutes later a very tall man with graying hair and a stooped look about him walked quietly into the drawing-room and stopped at the door. His beautiful green eyes shone with tears to see the face of the only woman he'd ever truly loved in his entire immortal life.

He saw her proud and determined face as she sat in the room with his brother and his sister. He was dressed in an off-white button-down shirt, with tan Dockers pants, Oxford shoes and a windbreaker jacket. He held his pork pie hat in his hands and smiled.

It was a kind of a sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. He was struck by Sally's incredible beauty and he rued the day that he ever listened to his brother, because he could have defeated him in combat and taken and married Sally and been happy forever. He would have been a true father to Perseus and perhaps he and Sally would have had more children as well.

His life was full of regrets, and what ifs. And he thought about that a lot before coming over. He was so sad and sorry for everything that he missed and he thought to himself how much better a man Paul Blofis was than he, the "god of the oceans and the seas".

There was so much he wanted to say to her but couldn't. The time for that was long since passed and he knew that if he began some sort of an apology now he might never stop. He would end up on his knees a blubbering mess, begging Sally to come back to him. And he knew that she would not.

Poseidon knew Sally had found her happiness and would never give that up even for immortality and for the position of Queen of the oceans. that was one of the last things that his son Percy had said to him, before Percy left for the Church.

He'd told his father exactly what he was going to do and they'd had a long drawn-out talk about everything that Percy regretted and everything that Poseidon had regretted. They both had truly cleared the air between them, but it left a whole lot of stuff, mental junk mostly in the forefront of Poseidon's mind.

And his gray hair now showed the state of his being and his overall state of mind.

The whole process had aged him terribly. It was beginning to look as if Triton was going to have to take over as the new king long before anybody had anticipated it.

"Hello Sally, brother, sister. Sally, are you well? Estelle and Tyson? Paul? Are they here?"

Sally smiled warmly and rose. "Hello, Po! It's been far too long! All are well but only Tyson is here. He's been studying for his upcoming finals; he should have his bachelor's degree very shortly and we are all very happy and proud of him. He's a brilliant student and has been carrying a 4.0 grade level for a long time now.

"And that's as high as it gets without extra credit, and I know that he has some extra credit as well. Annabeth helped him at first, and then Paul tutored him for years. But he began to make strides in the last 5 years that we didn't expect. And he's been able to run with the ball all on his own since then.

"I know that he misses Annabeth and Percy terribly, but he misses you more and I know he's going to want to see you. I hope that you'll stay and have dinner with us tonight because Tyson would love to sit and talk to you for a long time. He's missed you. Please stay?"

Zeus and Hera wisely kept out of this part of the discussion, as they recognized that it was strictly between these two. They had been lovers for a very long time before Sally finally moved on with Paul. She had been a fierce mother for Percy and would have been a worthy mate for Poseidon. They were both very sorry that Poseidon had not been more decisive about it at the time. Zeus would have given way on the whole issue if Poseidon had simply expressed himself. They had never talked about it, and he would have to chalk it up to missed chances in life.

"I'm sorry that I can't stay too long, but you know how it is with my being in charge of the oceans. Nothing ever stops and the oceans never sleep! But I will stay as long as I can. Where is Tyson right now?"

"Here I am dad!"

The very tall (6'8") cyclope, currently covered by mist so that it looked as if he had two eyes for the benefit of Marina, strode into the room carrying a tray full of coffee and cream, and helped Marina by setting everything up on the serving carts so that everyone could reach what they wanted easily.

Poseidon stood and strode over to embrace his son. He was delighted to see his "baby boy" and noted all the many differences he noticed in him.

"Hello son! You look very well! Your lovely mother is taking excellent care of you! All Atlantis is very proud of you, and your eldest brother sends his best also. And so does Amphitrite. We're all very proud of you!".

Tyson smiled, and then turned to uncover the tray of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that Sally made for him regularly, and looked at everybody with a smile and said, "Please do dig in! These are special, made by my mother by her own hands! And they are delicious!"

Poseidon's eyes lit up as he reached for the tray and took a cookie and bit into it, chewing slowly. His eyes closed and a low growl could be heard coming from him. "Sally, you have never lost your touch and if anything these are better than the old style. I like these peanut butter chocolate chips, although the ones that you used to make for Percy were very very good as well. Honestly, these taste better than ambrosia!"

Zeus looked and said, "Are these the chocolate chip cookies that I had heard about so much and so often in years gone by? I think I'll try one".

The king and his queen both picked one up and delicately bit off a little bit and chewed it. Zeus' eyes lit up in his head and Hera looked completely startled.

"Oh my! Sally, dear these are absolutely delicious! You really must give me the recipe! I would love to be able to make these at home! Please do give me the recipe before I leave or perhaps send it up with Tyson when you have time if you are so inclined. I would be forever grateful for it!"

Sally smiled brightly, happy that everybody liked her best efforts. Really, these had been for Tyson and then she had gotten the phone call from Chiron.

The old horse had kept in touch with her by phone for years, making sure that all was well and seeing if there was anything that he could do to help her. He was always cautious for her safety and the safety of her daughter and husband because of Perseus' great feats in the past and his having made terrible enemies.

But there had been no problems, at least none that Tyson couldn't handle and every so often, Tyson would come home with a light spattering of gold dust on him. He never talked about what happened but Sally knew the signs. And he always walked Estelle to school or drove her and brought her home. She was never allowed to go by herself. And Tyson would never let her do it. He had promised Percy. He had promised his big brother, and he would keep his word.

"Certainly I can give you the recipe Lady Hera! I'm absolutely flattered that you like them that much! Please, do help yourself to tea or coffee and there's cream in the pitcher as well as sugar cubes and loose sugar as well".

"Please dear, no ladies or lords or anything else today. It's just us having coffee and cookies and discussing a few matters. Brother, we were waiting for you before beginning the discussion. And that has a lot to do with the fact that you do know Sally much better than we do. But we are concerned for the same thing and we do need the help and there's no better way to impress that than to be down here and make the request ourselves".

Poseidon took it all in quietly keeping his poker face on. And so did Sally. A quick glance between them to each other and they both understood that this had to be one heck of a problem for the king and queen to have come down to talk to a mortal. especially the mother of a demigod who had annoyed the living heck out of the both of them for many years, not to mention the rest of the pantheon.

"So Zeus, please tell me just what the problem is here. It sounds rather important and I will of course help in any way that I may. But I'm not sure that I'm the right person for it if what you need is a high-level contact in a church. I don't have any of those, although I may know someone who does".

"Brother, it's time to tell her what happened. Do you want me to do it or would you like to do it?"

Zeus was chewing his cookie and just nodded at his brother to go ahead. Tyson had taken a seat along with the rest of the group and was listening carefully. He had warned his mother that if Zeus and Hera were asking for an appointment with her, then whatever they needed was going to be a whopper.

He had warned Sally to be very careful in what she agreed to and then what she did for them. But it hadn't really been necessary because Sally was well aware of what could happen. She appreciated Tyson's warnings but she knew well how treacherous dealing with Olympians could be for a mortal.

"A couple of weeks ago, Artemis and her Hunters suffered a defeat of sorts and Artemis wound up without her powers. According to Hecate, Artemis had also lost her godhood. We think we know how and why and we need to talk to a high-level Church person, preferably of the Greek or Eastern Orthodox persuasion.

We would prefer a Patriarch of one of the Churches, as I'm sure you can understand. But we do need to make a contact of some sort through a third party because we cannot go near a church. They are completely out of bounds to us and this is what caused the problem in the first place. Artemis went into such a church, and she and her Hunters and their wolves were ejected forcibly onto the sidewalk and left without any powers or any capabilities other than their human strength.

It seems that even the demigods among them lost their demigod attributes, and all have been reduced to the status of an ordinary mortal. This has not happened to anyone in our pantheon in nearly two thousand years. But the last time it did, three minor gods were stripped of their godhood and powers and wound up dying in an ox cart accident soon thereafter. It was a weird accident too, I will tell you. I don't know when I have ever seen three oxcarts crash together from three different directions, and crush three minor gods made mortal, all at once. And no damage to the carts, their cargoes or the oxen. That one stumped us, I can tell you!"

Sally took it all in very quietly and gave a glance over to Tyson. Tyson was munching on a cookie but he rolled his eyes at his mother signifying there was more to this than met the eye. Sally nodded lightly twice indicating that she got it and she turned her gaze back on to the three gods.

"Better tell me everything Po. I can always tell when you're holding back you know".

Poseidon sighed deeply and looked at his brother and sister. Zeus took a swallow of coffee and continued the story, this time leaving out nothing. the fact that Artemis and her Hunters were tracking down Percy was not left out.

Hera had given Zeus a little mental push to tell the complete truth because she knew that if Sally even thought that they were not telling her everything they would get nowhere with her and that's not what they needed. But they got a little bit more at that point than they anticipated because Sally had an answer for them.

"I have heard of this. I'm talking about the incident 2000 years ago. When Percy came to me originally in agony over Annabeth leaving, I didn't really know what else to do so I called a Greek Catholic priest I know, Papa Stavriou. The good father came over and sat with my son. Percy was full of tears that night, I didn't know where else to turn to unload his story anymore. He had told me, told Paul, told his father, told Chiron and nobody had any answers for him. We were all completely at a loss.

"Now you will need to understand that I was raised in the Greek Church as a girl. My parents were not religious and did not baptize me, and when they died I went to live with my aunt who was religious but also did not baptize me then. But I did learn of the faith and I took a great deal of solace in it, as the death of my parents had left me terribly sad.

"There was this young priest in our local church, and he was very sympathetic to my pain. He had a gift of healing by just listening to people. He would say a few words and usually hit on the right method to get around their pain or to deal with their pain.

It wasn't until a few years later that I met him on the street over in Astoria, in Queens when I was shopping at some Greek stores. I was pushing Percy along in his baby carriage, and there was Papa Stavriou! I was very surprised, and very happy to see him.

"We were just standing there talking when he looked past my shoulder and said," Don't say a word, just start walking in the direction that you're pointed and make a left hand turn at the next corner. I will join you in a minute".

"It was a monster that had been trailing me and Percy, and he saw them. Do you all understand? He SAW them. When he came around the corner, I observed him putting what turned out to be a celestial bronze dagger away in a sheath at his waist, underneath his cassock. My friend the priest was a demigod! The monster couldn't even see Father Stavriou, but Father could see IT!

"He was a son of Apollo who had left Camp Half-Blood years before when he turned seventeen.

His brother George had stayed at camp and was killed on a quest about a year later. It was something to do with wiping out a monster enclave nearby the Greek Orthodox monastery in Roscoe, New York.

"Papa Stavriou was at the monastery when the attack happened, and he went outside to see if he could help. He got there just in time to see his brother take a sword to the chest and saw the blood spurting out arterially. He caught his brother's body before it hit the ground and his brother put his dagger into the priest's hand before he died.

"He was just a novice at the time, but under the seal of the confession, he had to make a clean breast of what happened and who exactly he was. The Elder Monk of the monastery had had his thoughts about this new novice, recognizing some things about him, and prompted him to tell exactly the truth.

"The Elder Monk told him something that he didn't know at the time and I certainly didn't know until he told me, but the Church is very well aware of all of you and there are always a few demigods who have taken refuge in the Greek and Roman Churches, and they have given them both quite an education in the problems attendant to demigods being around the Church in general.

"Telling the truth in the confessional means telling the truth under spiritual seal of complete confidentiality, and what is said is privy only to the confessor, the priest and God. If you gods were trying to listen in directly to a confession, even in an open field you wouldn't be able to do it. Taking your vows as a religious person in the Church seals you against the old religion, against your pantheon.

"It was exactly the out that my son wanted and he took it. That was why Artemis could not see him. And because her Hunters are immortals, it was why they could not see him, either. The wolves are animals, and of course could smell Percy, but since he is sealed against the Hunt and the wolves are a part of the Hunt, they could not see him or touch him either".

Tyson knew all of this, but the expression of shock on the faces of all three gods made him sit up straight. He didn't think that he had ever seen his father look so surprised before at all. But he sure did look it now!

Sally felt the same way. She nervously fingered the small crucifix she always wore, the one that Tyson had made for her years ago and gave to her the day that he and Percy came home from camp together. She loved that crucifix and it always gave her comfort to have and wear such a beautiful piece of jewelry made by her adoptive son. She had had the crucifix blest the day that Percy was baptized.

Poseidon knew all this about his son, but had not disclosed it to the council. It was none of their business as far as he was concerned, and he had had to knuckle under to the council and his brother regarding the so-called "ancient laws" that served only to separate him from his son and the woman who he loved so very much. Zeus damn those laws!

This was the first he'd heard about some of the powers and protections the Church could afford an ordained person. And even simply a baptized person. Especially a demigod.

Zeus turned to his brother; "Poseidon, did you know all about this before? I mean, about Percy and the protection and everything?"

"No brother, I did not. I wasn't aware of the mystical types of protection that the Church could afford an ordained demigod, or even just a baptized demigod. I simply thought that it was a spiritual separation and not a physical separation. Sally warned me that I would not be able to find Percy and told me but it was a consequence of his being baptized. I wasn't aware that the protection was so extreme.

"But hear me on this brother, Percy's choice is Percy's choice and as his father I must support my son. His choice was sanity and clarity and enlightenment. And he has achieved a degree of it at least, I think. He has not returned to us and as a result it leads me to believe that he is happy where he is, wherever that may be.

"So let us enjoy these marvelous cookies and this delicious coffee and tea, and let us ask our beautiful Sally if she will please help us get in touch with an elder of this Church. I do not even know that we need to speak to someone of the Greek Orthodox persuasion; there is always the Roman Catholic Church. They are as steeped in the mysticism part of things, and their leader claims to be the Vicar of Christ on Earth.

"Perhaps this would be a good Church to approach? They have an office building on First Avenue in Manhattan not too far from here, and I'm sure that we could work out a visitation with one of their bishops at a neutral location where we will not be risking the wrath of their God".

Zeus thought this over very closely for a minute or two and looked at his wife. "My queen, what is your opinion on this? Should we approach the Greek Orthodox Church whose physical Church it was that this took place in or should we approach the Roman Catholic Church? And does it make a difference either way?" So saying, he bit into yet another cookie, his fourth Tyson counted. He was being pretty calm for once.

"Husband, I don't think that it would make a big difference either way so it is truly your preference. But I think that you will find that the Greeks are more likely to deal with us on an even playing field as we are in the Greek personae of our identities. While it is true we could just as easily become our Roman selves, I much prefer being who I am this way.

"But you are my husband and you are the king and it is your choice. What say you husband?".

"Milady Sally, would you please be kind enough to speak to your friend the priest and explain the situation to him? We would like to meet with his Bishop first, and then from there we will see where we must go. I will be patient with everyone, as I am simply trying to understand all of this myself.

I have had no contact with this other God, and He has had no contact with me. Such things must be handled carefully and respectfully at all levels, especially since he has, in effect harmed my daughter, although admittedly the primary transgression was hers alone.

"I give you my word that I will not attempt any vengeance on any priests who become involved in this, and I will treat them with respect as will all of the Olympians and all of the minor gods in our Pantheon, and with all honor and decorum. And any god or goddess who does not, or nature spirit or anybody else will suffer an eternity of pain in Tartarus by my hand personally. I swear this on the River Styx."

Thunder boomed in the background, signifying that the oath had been recorded and acknowledged. But all of a sudden, a huge flash of lightning and a thunderclap that split the sky resounded across the New York skyline, stopping traffic and breaking windows, and shocking everybody in that room!

Their house's windows weren't broken, but several windows across the street visibly shattered and everyone heard the glass as it fell to the sidewalk just barely missing several pedestrians. In fact, the glass "miraculously" missed several pedestrians you might say.

Tyson observed rather pithily, "Well Uncle, it would seem as if not only Lady Styx heard you. Seems to me that the God who calls Himself "I Am" has heard you as well. And I think that he will hold you to this oath. Be very careful uncle, we cannot afford to lose you". Zeus was completely taken aback. This was an oath even he couldn't get out of!

Poseidon gave a weak smile and just nodded his head a little. And right about then the maid stuck her head in and made a motion at her wrist watch to Tyson. Tyson smiled and got up and said, "It's time for me to go pick up Estelle at school. Please excuse me everybody, and I'll be home shortly with my sister".

He turned to the king and queen and asked very politely, "Will you both be here when we get back your majesties? It would be nice for me to be able to tease her about very important company. My sister has grown up hearing all of the stories of my brother and the camp, Annabeth, the prophecies and the quests and such. I think that she would be completely flabbergasted to actually meet the two of you".

Tyson turned to Hera and addressed her directly, "Your majesty, you will find that Estelle has impeccable fashion sense and is a great fan of the designs of Coco Chanel. I noticed that you were wearing a Chanel design here and I think my sister would be more attentive to that than to the fact that three gods are sitting at our table tonight for dinner! But she's a very intelligent young lady and I think that you would have a marvelous time talking with her. Please do stay for dinner? And besides that, it will give us all a chance to talk more about this and perhaps make more concrete plans with my mother, if she is indeed willing? Mother?"

Sally gave a reserved smile but nodded her head; there was a bit of a twinkle in her eye as she looked at all three of them and said, "I hope that you all like Italian style roast beef. We usually have it on Fridays, but I fixed it tonight to tempt Po here into staying. It's one of his favorites".

Poseidon looked up with a smile and said, "You remembered? After all these years and you still remembered? Sally, you just made my heart happy!"

Sally looked up and said, "Of course I remembered! After the way you ripped into the last one I made for you, do you think that I could ever forget?"

She turned to everyone else and said, "Honestly, you never saw a grown man eat so much so fast in one sitting! If I hadn't bought a 5 lb roast, there wouldn't have been enough! It was always one of Percy's favorites too. It's just too bad he's not here to enjoy it with us. and I doubt that they're having that wherever he's at!"

 _St Demetrios Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Queens, NY_

The Deacon was deeply engrossed in a very important conference with his Episkopos, his Bishop right at that moment. And while the Deacon's dinner would not be nearly so fine as what his mother was cooking, it would still be hearty and filling.

The Bishop's name was Theodore, and he had been ordained as a priest some thirty years before back in Greece. He'd listened patiently to this Deacon's tale for nearly an hour. And to say that the story was incredible was actually pushing it a little.

If it hadn't been for the presence of Father Stavriou who had actually baptized the younger man he doubted seriously that he would have believed any of it. An actual son of an Olympian God, in THIS church? In a mystical battle with another Olympian, her retinue and a pack of trained hunting _wolves?_

Bishop Theodore must have seemed unconvinced, so Percy gave a little demonstration of his innate abilities to control water by swirling the water in the carafe on the desk and from that he progressed it into a flying circus-type of show, and after two entire circuits of the office, Percy made a ball of it and the priests found themselves playing an impromptu game of "catch" until the Bishop called a halt to the 'fun'. And all Percy had done was to stretch his hand over the carafe; he never physically touched it, not even once!

The Bishop couldn't understand why Percy still had any abilities of his father's nature since he was now an ordained person. But Papa Stavriou gently reminded him that he was still active as a healer and still had his 'regular clients'. And he was a son of Apollo. Theodore wondered just "what he'd done to deserve such bounty from the Almighty's left hand".

"Eminence, back before I came to the church, I had a full range of powers the kind of which were accredited to my father. His ability to make earthquakes and generate storms were abilities that I had back then and used in combat many times. I could even direct water inside someone's body. But that was a terrible weapon, never to be used on another human being. I only used it once and that was against a goddess who was intent on killing myself and another demigod. I don't know what powers I still have other than this one, but I used to be able to heal myself and others with water as well. So there are some blessings at play here, after a fashion although I hesitate to try any of these abilities at all. that would mean that I was going back to my old ways and I have sworn away from that, having taking my oaths to the Church. And anyone who knows me knows that I do not ever go back on a oath or a promise".

Theodore and Stavriou both looked at each other. Stavriou smiled and said, "I'm still pretty good with a bow and arrow too! And I meet with parishioners all the time who are in need of healing of one sort or another. These are gifts that are innate to me through my father, just as Deacon Perseus' gifts are innate to him through his father.

The Bishop hadn't understood why all these things had happened now, after fifteen years. The front doors to the church had been repaired already, despite the force with which they had been blasted off their hinges. It had been a surprisingly easy repair job for the men, and they'd finished it up in just a couple of hours. And despite the rest of what had happened during the incident, there wasn't even a trace that anything had occurred in the nave of the church. Even the water had dried up without a stain on the carpets.

Bishop Theodore came to a decision fairly quickly. He would speak with his primate Bishop, the Arch-Episkopos who was in charge of his church in North America as a whole. He could help in the employment of a resolution for poor Perseus. And Theodore truly did sympathize with his Deacon's plight.

These beings obviously were still searching for Perseus, and if even half of what he'd told the bishop had been true as to just some of his feats and accomplishments, it was no wonder he was still wanted back. Something would have to be done, and it was obvious that the Almighty had made His will known by knocking the "goddess" right out on her rump and throwing her out of His church, and the rumps of her entire group with her; even their trained dogs!

If Theodore had to guess, the matter hadn't ended there, either. As a bishop, he had quite a more extensive amount of knowledge on subjects like this. It had been a real shock to him when he first learned as a new bishop of the existence of the pagan pantheon, and the fact that their headquarters was so close across the river in Manhattan. He idly wondered if the Roman Catholics knew about this? After all, they and these dusty old pagans all were coexisting together on the same island together.

But it had actually served to explain a number of things including that incident where everyone in Manhattan fell asleep for several days. That Percy had been at the epicenter of that entire episode absolutely amazed Theodore. They had a true warrior prince on their hands, and it was clear that the Olympians wanted him back.

Well too damn bad for them! This man was now sealed in the service of the Almighty Himself, and he was forever beyond their reach. And the bishop was sure that this was forever so, especially given his knowledge of the history of these things. He too knew all about the three 'minor gods' from two thousand years ago.

"Reverend Deacon Perseus, Father Stavriou, tomorrow it is back to work as usual for you both. It is obvious to me the Will of God here, and that we are all protected from these demons. These ancient pagan deities have no call on any of us, and if I had to guess I would say that the little goddess is no longer much of a goddess anymore.

There is a history of these things from many centuries ago, and this is not the first time that God Himself has made his presence known directly in the defense of His church against these beings. The three who were chastised by the Almighty centuries before were killed almost immediately thereafter.

I do not know if this will happen to her, Percy but I do know that it has happened in the past. You seem troubled by what I just said. What are you thinking right now?"

Percy waited a moment before speaking. He was very thoughtful these days and it was rare when he did not take a moment to gather his thoughts before voicing them.

"Eminence, I know that I do not wish harm on any other person or being. And I had no desire to cause any the other day. Or to be the cause of it. Perhaps the best thing for me would be to retreat from the rest of the world for the rest of my life. I do not know that this would be the best thing for everyone.

"I do have my Ministry to those unfortunate souls imprisoned on Rikers Island whom I visit every day as well as the sick and needy in the city hospitals that I visit every week. I've been able to do a lot of good out there and want to keep on doing it, but not at the price of being a trouble magnet for the church.

"And I don't want to start a war between Heaven and Olympus just because I will to stay here and not go where I should. So I pledge to you again my complete obedience on this matter, and whatever you decide will be for the best. And I will obey and go where I am sent if it is your decision that I should leave".

Stavriou cut in at this point. One thing still bothered him, although Percy's obedience was a welcome thing here.

"Percy, what about your mother? Don't you still visit with her occasionally?"

Percy's still young face broke into a quiet smile, and he answered in the affirmative and his response to his mentors question.

"Yes Father, I do. and it has been a source of great joy to me that I have been able to do so for so very long. It's lent of a lot of stability to me, and in a time in which I did need it. But I spent years away from the "others" before coming back to be ordained. I did spend four years in contemplation upstate after taking the tonsure.

"And if it's necessary and it is for the good of the church, I will go where I am sent. I took an oath on this and can never go back. But you know what my life was like before among them. I do not wish to go back to being their personal errand boy with a sword, go back to having nightmares all the time of hell.

"It's bad enough that these are real places that people can actually wander into. I don't wish ever to risk that again. I have done enough and had enough done to me. I'm not their playtoy anymore. I'm an ordained man in the service of his God, and I'm grateful for the chance to do some good in this world".

Both of the elder priests sat there shaking their heads in wonderment. This incredible younger man had actually gone through his former pantheon's version of Hell! And he did so for the love of a woman who then left him some years later. Marriage was a possibility for priests and deacons in this church, although not for bishops, unless they were married when they became a bishop.

Neither of the men wanted to contemplate what it was like to have your heart emotionally ripped away from you, although that exact thing that happened to this exemplary younger Deacon. And if the truth were to be told, he had not deserved such a thing. Although it was obvious to both of them that the woman had also had problems that she could not surmount, and so had taken the best advice available to her and left the country to follow her art and her first love of architecture.

Annabeth Chase was a celebrated and well-known architect, and had designed a number of great buildings in Europe. She had been offered a number of very large commissions in the United States, but had turned them down. it was a well-known fact that she had no wish to return to the country of her birth. She always claimed that she had simply fallen in love with Europe and "was having too much fun exploring it all and learning it all ever to come home".

Her restoration of the Parthenon had been a tremendous victory for her new mode of reconstruction of ancient ruins to their former glory. Annabeth had really achieved greatness in her craft, and Percy wished her well in his heart. He had made his peace with what Annabeth had done many years before. But what none of the men knew was that there would be a meeting of these two very shortly that would change Percy's life forever.

But in the meantime, the bishop decided to call in his biggest guns and have a chat with them about this incredible young man whom they had to know about long before he was assigned to this diocese. That he had done an amazing amount of very good work did not need to be said, as nothing less could be expected from such a being as Perseus.

 _A week later…_

"Papa Stavriou! I hadn't expected to see you so soon, but it's always a pleasure you know! Things have been quiet over here since the last week, and I hope things have been well for you".

"Yes Reverend Perseus, things have been well. but I just got a letter from your mother today and I think if you have not yet checked your mail you should look because you will probably get one also.

"She explains that she was visited by several individuals of a very unusual nature, including your father. And she goes into how there was a problem regarding a another being with whom I assume you apparently had a run-in.

"It was a good letter, and she is asking me to come over and sit with her and discuss this matter. Apparently, these beings are asking for the church's help in this matter. I don't think that they have a concept of how this church works, not truly. But here; you can read my letter yourself and it will explain things much better to you".

Percy took the letter from his mentor and read it through. It was well-written and concise. He was always happy for news of Tyson, and his younger sister. She'd grown so!

But the news of the visit of the Olympians truly bothered him. The fact that they stayed for dinner was a good indicator of their peaceful intentions, although Percy didn't like any of them being near his family whatsoever, other than his father. He knew Poseidon would never ever harm Percy's mother or sister, or even Paul.

Percy now reached for his mail in his box, and read his letter from his mother which was sitting there right on the top of the pile. He was amused by his mother's description of Zeus' reaction to the cookies that she made for he king of the gods with a sweet tooth; who'd-a thunk it! Hysterical, all those crumbs! It was interesting to Percy to hear about the king and queen's behavior toward each other. They were just like an old married mortal couple, she fussing over the crumbs on his vest and all over his tie!

Lovely!

He handed his letter over to his mentor, chuckling all the while. Stavriou read it through and started chuckling at the description of the "king of the gods" getting cookie crumbs in his beard! What a marvelous writer Sally had turned out to be! He decided to keep up correspondence with Sally; they would need to now, especially with all these goings-on.

Percy asked, "Well? What do you think Papa? Do you think that my mother is in any danger right now? Or my siblings or stepfather?"

The priest sat back and thought for a few minutes before answering. He decided that there was no real reason to worry at that point. Zeus had been very polite and so had Hera. They had taken pains to point out to Sally that they were in dire need of her help and that they felt she could be trusted to aid them simply establishing a contact with the administrative religious body of their faith.

"No Perseus, I don't think so. Not right now at any rate. but I'm seriously thinking of going over to your mother's house and consecrating the house. If we make it holy ground then they will not be able to affect anybody therein. It would be as difficult for them to walk into a church and get out unscathed. I will speak to the Episkopos about that. How do you feel about that? Do you agree that we should think about it but perhaps wait a little?"

Percy now thought about it for a minute, and then said, "I think that we should ask my mother her opinion on it. From her letter it doesn't seem to me that she feels endangered by any of this, although she's on guard and that much is very clear. And that is the correct way for her to feel.

"If it were me alone, I might be more wary about it, but then my relationship with the Olympians had always been more antagonistic than my mother's. They actually do like my mother not least because she and my stepfather fought for Olympus like warriors and killed many enemies in their fight. That they did that more to support me I do understand, but they did do it and THAT is what counts to the Olympians.

"They're a finicky bunch about certain things, but when they respect you they do really respect you. And when they let you know that they need your help politely, then they're really desperate! And while desperate is not always a good thing with them, they still need her for the long term, and as long as they do I think she's safe.

"But I like your idea of consecrating the house. Making it holy ground would make it virtually impervious to them. They wouldn't even be able to get inside the door. But we would have to maintain something of the sacred Eucharistos in form of both bread and wine in the house. And I don't know how that's going to help Tyson. I don't want him left vulnerable to them, and I don't want to put him out on the street.

"I mean, it's bad enough that I can't see my brother anymore, and that he can't come and visit me. And my heart is sore about that. I don't want to hurt him anymore. There must be some other way".

Percy's aging mentor set back and gave it a lot of thought. about 5 minutes passed between both men and they were calm and silent, but comfortably so. both of them were used to long silences and quiet contemplation. But what they really needed here was a brainstorm. And it occurred to the priest that Percy's idea of consulting his mother would be the best idea of all.

"Percy, why don't you call your mother and make a time to go see her. Perhaps the two of you could come to some sort of concept that the rest of us could work with. After all, the two of you know this situation better than anyone of us could. But with your permission I would like to take your mother's letter to you and her letter to me to the bishop and let him read them both through.

"There's a lot here that he might want to think about, and it does put a kind of a personal touch to the relationship with these incredible beings. It could be that this would help us in moving forward to the right people. And once he makes it clear that your mother is corresponding with you and with me about these things, along with his results with his audience with you the other day, I don't think he's going to have trouble finding a superior such as the Ecumenical Primate of North and South America for our Church to support us".

Percy's eyes widened with surprise when he heard this. Calling in Archbishop Georgiou was a really big step! The only other Bishop higher than him was the Patriarch of his Church, Ioannes. He was considered the first among all the Archbishops of the various regions and dioceses. He was the Patriarch of Constantinople, on an equal footing with the Roman Catholic Pope and his office went all the way back to the days of the Eastern Roman Empire, to the days when the church was legitimized as the state religion of the Roman Empire by the Emperor Constantine.

Calling in the North American Archbishop was just one step away from that man in Constantinople. This was getting very serious very very quickly. But would this "first among equals" truly understand the problem? And how would he deal with it? This had never been done before and there was no precedence for it in all of history. Perhaps Zeus was mellowing as the millennia marched along? Anything was possible with the Olympians!

"Papa, I think that we need to be able to sit down and make it very clear to the bishop before he reaches out to anyone else just how antagonistic this thing can turn and how quickly it can happen.

"Perhaps you and I should sit in with any meetings, and possibly even go through a middleman such as Chiron or one of the senior campers. Perhaps even one of the Roman leaders at Camp Jupiter?

"Maybe we could reach out to the former praetor, Reyna Arellano? She is exact and accurate and I believe that she would be acceptable to the Olympians as well. The Greek Camp doesn't exactly have leadership like that. it's too bad that Annabeth isn't still there or I would suggest her".

"Really Perseus? That woman that you had all the problems with, the one who left you? She would be acceptable to you?"

"Of course. That's all history now and my feelings for her in that way are gone for many years. I am not angry at her in the least, and she might be able to do a great deal of good here. She is more intimately acquainted with the gods that she helped in redesigning Olympus after the battles that left it in ruins. She was named the Architect of Olympus as a reward for her role in the second Titan War.

"The Olympians all know her and respect her greatly, and she would be perfectly safe doing this as she is the daughter of Athena. If there is anyone who could be an intermediary between the church and the Olympians, it should be someone like her".

"OK Percy, as long as you feel that way about it, then I am with you on this. Can you contact this woman? And her name is what? Annabeth?"

Percy looked up thoughtfully from his lap where he had been contemplating over the last few moments. He'd been deep in thought, memories of him and Annabeth from years before. Most of those memories were very fond.

He felt that he understood why she left, and understood completely that her terrors and experiences of their time together and Tartarus had taken over her life just as they had taken over his. The Deacon had been wrong in depending so much on this sensitive, intelligent and beautiful young woman.

Tartarus had robbed them both of each other, as neither could bear each the other's burden of pain and horror at their mutual experiences. Some things were just not bearable by others; only years of prayer and meditation spent in service to others had helped Percy regain his moral strength and certitude. No one else could have truly helped him.

Only God had helped.

"Percy? Are you still here?" Papa Stavriou laughed as he realized his protege had taken a bit of a jog down 'Memory Lane'!

"Eh? Oh! Sorry! I wasn't ignoring you, just lost in my thoughts for a few minutes. There's a lot back there to remember, and you can never really forget things like these"...

Stavriou understood what Percy was saying. He had no frame of reference to truly understand Percy's experiences, as he had never gone anywhere near the underworld let alone Tartarus. Not too many demigods had; and he had never had his heart ripped out by a woman the way Percy's had been by Annabeth. It was no wonder that PTSD took Percy like this from time to time.

"I think I might be able to get in touch with Annabeth through Chiron. She would never go anywhere and not tell him where she went. She came to the camps when she was 7 years old, brought by two other demigods and a satyr. Chiron has been like a father to her for all these years as her own father has been distant from her for a long time.

"I suppose I should ask my mother to call him. He might not be able to talk to me given circumstances as they are. Although I certainly would like to have a conversation with him, because I do miss him too. It's just that I had to give up so much to be able to enjoy this wonderful peace in my life.

"To be honest, I really want nothing to do with any of this. What happened to Artemis is her own fault, and she had been told not to go into churches eons ago. She knew what happened to those gods, she just forgot about it and chose not to think about it.

"If things didn't normally affect her directly, they just didn't matter to her. It was always kind of a blind spot with Artemis as far as I could see. she didn't mind mutilating and murdering men for eons, as long as she could get away with it. Whatever has affected her now, it is a judgment that she has earned. And I personally don't see the reason for intervening and helping return her to her former station".

The priest took all of this in and nodded his head in agreement. Because he really did agree with Perseus in his heart. But he also realized that such a request coming from the source was a request that he did not have the authority to just ignore on his own.

Even had he been in a remote part of the world with no easy method of his contacting any religious superiors, he still would have had to make the effort anyway. He idly wondered if missionaries in Polynesian islands had ever gone through this with some of those Island gods. Given what they were going through now, he thought he might be able to get away with asking about it. It would be interesting to find out if nothing else!

"Okay my young deacon. Contact your mother and ask her to contact Chiron to ask him to contact Annabeth and put her in touch with you. Perhaps she can help as she is both mortal and well acquainted with them. If Annabeth still has access to Olympus then she can go right up, or even meet with them at your mother's house if your mother is willing".

Percy nodded his head and reached for the phone. He would do this because of the trouble that could result for his mother and his family if he did not. He was not without forethought in matters like these, and after all of his experiences he knew better than to let this sleeping dog lie.

Personally, he hoped that nothing happened to restore Artemis. Even if she was a mortal for 20 or 30 years, she would grow up some and learn about the errors of her ways especially regarding men. Percy knew that some of the men had definitely deserved the treatment that she accorded them, but many did not and that didn't sit well with him, not at all.

But trying to convince someone who considers herself all-powerful that not only was she not all-powerful when she did have it in her power to actually destroy a person by just thinking about it is a terribly difficult thing to do.

Percy had tried to change her mind about him by being both respectful and courtly in his manners towards her. He was always respectful in the way that he treated the Hunters, understanding that many of them had been ill treated by men and some of them very very badly. But castrating men and murdering them for sport, for fun was wrong on a different scale all together. And Zeus had never done anything to rein in his daughter either.

Percy would do this, for the safety and security of his family. That was his true "Achilles Heel". And maybe, just maybe if God was in a merciful mood He might let Percy see Tyson. He would pray on it and hopefully, God would take notice of his prayer.

And God answers all prayers when prayed with a true heart and with faith. Percy would get to see this very closely and personally in the days to come. His life would take turns he couldn't even begin to imagine...


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own any of the characters in this story, Rick Riordan owns them all. Darn it. And I have no financial interest or ownership in Delta airlines, Rolls Royce or Dom Perignon. But don't I wish I did!

Time for a time skip. We're gonna deal with Annabeth for a bit.

Percy's New Path chapter 5

 _July, 2012 Paris, and the Layover_

The two European men looked at the beautiful American blonde as she walked down the airport corridor toward the texit. Since the necessary paperwork had been filed on board the jumbo jet before landing, all Annabeth needed now was her passport, personal ID and visa for the European Union nations and she was good to go for a Parisian shopping trip. A short one but…

"Gunther" and "Alois" stared at her receding form and couldn't help marveling at the way her derriere swiveled as she walked. "She can surely expect a lot more attention with a walk like that!", opined ''Alois''.

His partner ''Gunther' simply smiled as he morphed into his actual mortal form as Hermes. Alois morphed into his form as Apollo, the "Immortal Wingmen".

"You know, that line you tried on her was truly lame! "We can show you a world you never knew existed"! How freakin' lame can you get!" The sarcasm had stung "Gunther" badly; that line had worked so many times before…

"Hey dude! I heard YOU try it on her too! Don't hate me just 'cause I came up with it. You went down in flames, too!"

"Yeah, but I'd NEVER try that line on someone like ANNABETH CHASE!" He said this last in a slightly growled whisper.

Hermes looked back at Apollo thoughtfully. He actually had a soft spot for Annabeth due to his son, Luke's love for her. All the times Luke had captured Annabeth she'd never once been in any real danger with the exception of that stupid manticore, Thorn.

Luke had truly loved Annabeth, and when Hermes had finally been allowed to chat with his son in Elysium, the truth of Luke's feelings came out during their talk. Luke had truly fallen for her when she was about fifteen. Annabeth had really physically matured back then and Luke had fallen for her like a ton of bricks!

But her heart was by then in the care of Poseidon's son. It might still be so. Might.

And no matter where she went right now, someone would always be there to care for her. Triton was waiting for her in Athens. He'd been asked by Athena, whom Triton had raised as a daughter, to help the goddess' own most favored daughter get settled and keep an eye out on her until she was in step with her new environment. What Athena DIDN'T know was that Triton also had a sneaky "like" for his younger brother's ex. And Hermes knew that.

Well, the messenger god thought; who wouldn't? Aphrodite had started a pool as to when Annabeth would 'take comfort' with another man. Even Zeus and Hades had some serious cash on it. Platinum drachmas!

Poseidon had gotten angry and disgusted when he was asked to join in; he'd shouted out something inane like "money changers in the temple betting on the sacred virgin"; everybody thought the old sea god was starting to lose it.

It was just a harmless pool; nothing much. No harm in keeping things interesting, right? Annabeth was only human, wasn't she? Right. Just another mortal...

Not one thought was given by any of these "gods" as to Percy's feelings on the matter or the pain such an event with the woman he'd given his heart to would cause him. Not even one.

Annabeth reached the French Customs agents and answered all the questions put to her in her flawless French. Unfortunately, her "flawless" French was almost unintelligible to the two native Parisian officials working that booth. Parisian French is like something on a par with English spoken in Brooklyn, NY City. English spoken in Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Dyker Heights is almost unintelligible to Americans from many other parts of the United States, not to mention with other New Yorkers ***(I lived in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn for a year, and was raised in Manhattan; I really mean this!)***

But Annabeth, sensitive to what was being bandied back and forth by the Immigration Officers as well as what was being said to her managed to scrape by, and the two jaded souls gave her credit for her attempt.

Besides, she was an absolutely stunning blonde, and what Frenchman would ever be unkind to such un belle mademoiselle tres chic et courageuse (smart and brave AND beautiful!)? Especially an American woman of such exquisite beauty who was really trying hard to speak French, the ONLY civilized language?

Once she'd established she was going shopping for clothing and would be back for her connecting flight, the two wise-cracking Customs officers had given her the name and location of several decent but inexpensive bars that served acceptable food in town, and she was passed through and allowed to travel on in to the city.

The taxi she took tried to cheat her (unfortunately typical in a LOT of cities around the world), but Annabeth was well versed in Euros and dollars and the proper exchange rates with American dollars; so she gave the cabbie his proper fare and exited the cab right on the Champs Elysses, right by the The Arch. Minus a decent tip due to his attempt at cheating her.

The famed Triumphal Arch, L'Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile was huge and beautiful and Annabeth took a great shot of it in the morning sun with her special digital camera, a present from Leo for her birthday last year. The Arch is located at the Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly la Place du l'Etoile (the Place of the Stars).

Built in 1806 as a triumphal monument to Napoleon Bonaparte and his conquest of the major kingdoms of Europe (with the notable exception of Great Britain), the Arch stands several stories in height and about 80 feet across. Some early French aviator actually flew his trainer through the Arch in 1919!

And in 1939 Britain was back then the home of Mt Olympus and the gods prevented this interloper in their intercontinental affairs, Adolf Hitler from mounting a cross-Channel invasion, as he'd wanted to do.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War One is in a vault directly under the Arch's internal curvature. There are many engravings and this amazing structure was inspired by the Arch of Titus in Rome which itself was built in AD 82 by the Emperor Domitian. The names of over five _hundred_ French Generals are engraved on plaques along with the names in memoriam of many other great and historical French luminaries.

All this information went through Annabeth's mind as she just stood there looking at the enormous and beautiful structure, this immense and beautiful memorial that embodied the heart of France. She used to subject Percy to information jags like this one over the most minor things. But this wasn't "minor".

And he always listened to her. He ALWAYS heard her. He was her rock, just as she was his. And now she was leaving him….

STOP!

ENOUGH of feeling sorry for herself!

She KNEW this was the right thing to do.

Wasn't it?

Annabeth put her camera away and walked on, trying not to think about Percy back in the direction she'd come from, she saw a restaurant. It looked really nice and was open for breakfast. Being hungry, she found a seat at a table on the sidewalk and a waiter soon took her order. Cafe au' lait et un croissant. Coffee light with milk, and a savory French roll, basted in butter at the bakery. One of life's more worthwhile sins! Oh well, when in Paris…

Next up was shopping. Annabeth needed some good heels and a few skirts and suits. She needed the clothing in order to make good impressions with the people who would be teaching her. Where better to shop for fashionable things than in Paris? It was time to get going. She had a plane to be on no later than noon. Just three hours now…

 _Manhattan, Upper East Side_

Right about then, Percy and Tyson were arriving at his mom's new apartment. She and Paul were doing very well and they'd needed the room of a much larger home for themselves. The boys (Tyson could either bunk with Percy or stay in his own room now), had their own rooms which were both much larger than Percy's old one. And since his mom and Paul had been thinking about having another child, one of their own this time,Percy knew they were thinking ahead to that possibility. By now, Tyson was fully integrated as a Jackson-Blofis, in all but the legalities so he was included in the planning right from the start.

Paul and Sally both needed their own home offices as well, and the seven bedroom duplex they found fit the bill nicely. Sally's first book had sold really well, made the NY Times Bestseller list and was making a lot of money, and Paul had gotten a new job as the principal of Goode High School, and a substantial housing allowance went with the job. The money was no longer a problem, and the deal on this majestic apartment was fabulous! Not as expensive as it might have been.

Tyson and Percy walked down the block slowly, side by side with their weapons in hand but still concealed. They had no opposition from monsters or enemy demigods as they walked, and they soon reached their new home.

It was new construction, a dark glass and steel 46 story skyscraper on the northeast corner of East 86th St, between 1st and York Avenue. Not too ritzy an address but a beautiful new building with all the amenities. They walked up the semi-circular driveway and into the lobby they went.

The doorman looked up and recognized Percy right away. His mother had called down to alert the staff as the family was still new. Percy had been at Camp since just after Christmas and he'd been training the year-round campers in swordsmanship and unarmed combat, so the building staff didn't really know him just yet except for the old wallet-sized photo his mom had sent down. The doorman was a bit shorter than Percy, and he had to crane his neck and look up to see Tyson, who smiled down at him and just said, "Hello! I'm Tyson, Percy's younger brother".

The doorman sensed Tyson's gentle nature and smiled back, and said, "Hello, sir! I'm Andy and if either of you gentlemen ever need help, please just ask". He didn't have any instructions on this son, but Andy was adaptable.

He was also a legacy of Triton, and he'd been offered this job by his wife's uncle who'd been a construction foreman on the building and who was a legacy of Neptune as well as a former legionary, a decurion in the 12th Legion Fulminata. The name of the company that built it was "Star of the Sea Construction and Salvage", (one guess as to who owned it!) and it was formed by Poseidon to provide for both employment and occasionally housing his offspring, legacies and his and their loved ones, as well as Triton's very few legacies. The Seas have a loooong memory! And so did Poseidon.

The two young men went to the elevator lobby and took the first car to the 43rd floor. Almost the penthouse! Tyson was a bit nervous at being so high up in the air, but Zeus had made a deal with Poseidon; both his daughters Artemis and Thalia had full protection while in the waters while engaged on Hunt business or Olympian business, and Percy and all of Poseidon's children had permission to be in Zeus' domain at any level, any altitude. No more blowing up buildings to kill off demigods or their parents.

The girls had both nearly been killed while hunting an amphibious monster near Lake Superior two months past. Poseidon knew that Sally and Paul were looking for new digs and he wanted them in his new building. But they would've been forced to keep to no higher than the third story until the near-deadly incident.

Artemis had tried to rescue Thalia who'd swum into the inland sea that bordered the United States and Canada. Poseidon's son and heir, Triton had been close enough to effect a rescue. The two women had fallen prey to an underwater trap set up by an unknown party and were safely brought to shore and revived by the messenger god.

He summoned his father and Apollo, and both women were brought to Olympus. Athena had been dispatched to supervise the Hunt and guard the maidens until Artemis could get back. It was after Zeus had been summoned by his brother that they'd sat and talked out what happened. Poseidon mentioned how Percy had once talked to him about being afraid to ride any of the Pegasi too high because he was "afraid that Uncle Zeus would fry my ass!"

Zeus smiled at Percy's brash remark and then he offered a deal;

"Brother, if you agree to bless my daughters and the Hunters and give them all both safe passage and the ability to exist in the nearer deeps in connection with their duties and chores, then I will allow and permit all of your family and their companions to safely exist and travel in all my domains, forever".

"Brother, what you say is both generous and quite agreeable to me. I accept! This will make a lot of lives much easier. I also offer to bless all demigods at both camps so they enjoy the beaches and waters in safety".

Zeus smiled. He loved making this kind of agreement. It truly benefited all the gods as well as their children. And it made him look good to everybody because they thought that their dad had driven a very good bargain and gotten the better half of the deal. If only they all knew the truth!

"My brother, you are most thoughtful and generous! Let us announce this to the Council, and we will include the Senate leadership of New Rome as well as both Praetors, and also Chiron and the leadership of Camp Half-Blood. Then we will FEAST!"

Any reason for a good party, right? Just ask Dionysus,. Mr "PARTY TIME"!

This was the agreement that made it possible for Percy and Tyson to ride so high up in the elevator. Also, that "FEAST!" had ROCKED!

The car came to a rest and a bell dinged as the door opened. The two brothers exited and turned right. At the end of the hall they came to the only door at that end of the building, and rang the bell.

The door flew open and both Sally and Paul came out to start the huggin' and the lovin'. Tyson hugged "his mommy" and Sally started leaking tears of joy; her sons were home! Paul shook hands with both, and both younger men hugged their step-father as well.

Dinner was on the table. Sally had outdone herself. She'd made a huge pot roast with loads of vegetables, a soft and succulent six pound roast beef, and loads of buttery soft red potatoes. Both her boys started salivating! They both washed up and came to the table.

Then Sally said, "We should ask a blessing on our meal and for thanks that we are all here safely, together". They all joined hands as Sally recited a Christian prayer of "grace".

Then they sat and dug right in. Sally however, could see how upset Percy was. He spent a few minutes uncharacteristically just moving his food around on his plate instead of attacking his dinner in his usual voracious way.

Paul realized that his beautiful wife was just staring at their son and that he suddenly wasn't eating. He asked Percy, "So how's camp? Chiron okay? Nico, Leo, Rachel and all the rest? How they doing?"

Percy shed a few tears and looked up. He put his fork down and looked up at the man he'd come to regard as a real dad.

"She left me".

His voice was so soft that Paul had to strain to hear it. Percy looked at the older man right in the eyes and handed over the note he'd spent all last night just reading and re-reading.

Paul read the note and handed it back to his stepson. He sighed and pushed his plate back a bit as well.

Sally got up and put her arms around her boy, not saying a word. She just bent at the waist and loved him, pouring her heart into his thirsty soul. Tyson watched closely, listening but no longer eating. His big-brother was hurting and so was he. Their whole family was.

Sally did know already that Annabeth had gone. And it had been determined that it was in Annabeth's best interests. Now Sally would have to begin the very difficult task of helping her beautiful boy. Her terribly hurting son.

Percy was crying ever so quietly. The tears streaked down his face and he put his hands over his face.

"I-I'm really sorry; I can't eat just now. Maybe it's best i-if I j-j-just go t-t-to bed now."

Paul nodded at his beautiful wife and he and Tyson both got up and got Percy up and moving. They walked down the wide hall, with portrait sized photos of Percy taken at camp. There was one of him just sitting on the beach, the dying sunlight just aside him from the angle of the photographer.

The highlights in his hair showed up beautifully and he paused to look at it even though he was still crying.

"Paul? Where did you get this?"

Paul looked at his stepson, already a great man in the educator's eyes and he sighed.

"Your father gave it to your mom for her birthday this last year. It's both of us, our favorite photo of you."

"Who took it?"

"Annabeth".

The next morning Sally was up by 5:30. She'd checked in on her son to find that her "other son" was sitting next to her Percy, just holding his hand and speaking very quietly. Percy slept through without any nightmares or screaming.

When she got to the kitchen at 7am, she found Tyson up and a full pot of coffee all ready.

"Percy went for a run. He got up just a little while ago. He slept really good, Mama Sally".

Sally smiled sleepily and went over to the young Cyclope. She put her arms around him and hugged him to her. Tyson grinned and hugged Sally right back. Sally smiled into his t-shirt and said, "I love you as if you were my very own son. Percy is really lucky to have a wonderful brother like you, Tyson."

Then she asked, "Did you sleep at all last night, sweetheart?"

"No Mama. I sat up and just told big brother everything was okay; that he was okay and that I'd always be here for him".

Sally felt the tears spring to her eyes and could only just snuggle this amazing young man even closer. She really did have a mother's love for Tyson. Both Sally and Paul had talked… She wondered…

"Tyson? I want to ask you something."

"What, Mama? What do you want to ask me?"

"Tyson, Papa Paul and I really do love you, just as if we had raised you and had you as our very own boy. You know this, right?"

Tyson smiled softly and happily. He liked hearing this kind of thing.

"Yeah Mama. And I love you both too, just like we were a for-real real family". He looked down at her and said, "You even make me my very own special cookies, Mama; just like big brother Percy's. And… and…" he hesitated just a little and then said, "I love you and Papa Paul very much. Just like I am really your own son".

"Well, Tyson; would you like to be our son for real? We could adopt you and it would be made legal by a judge. You would really be our son, forever and ever. Papa Paul and I talked about this last night and he wanted to all of us sit down together and talk it over this morning at breakfast. And your real daddy agreed, so long as you're happy and return to Atlantis during the summers to work the forge and drill your armies. Is all that okay with you?

"We have a lot of room and we'll get you into school and we'll take care of you the way you deserve. Percy truly loves you, ya know! He always says ''my brother Tyson" whenever he talks about you, and he talks about you a lot!"

Tyson pulled back from this amazing woman, so full of love both for his brother and now for him as well. He looked at her shyly, not quite really believing this amazing thing he was being asked.

"You really mean it? You wanna be my for-real and forever mommy and Papa Paul my for-real daddy too?"

The younger brother's head started spinning and tears sprang up in his eye. He started laughing softly and hugged Sally so very snugly! But gently… really gently.

Just then Paul walked in, still sleepy but in a great mood. He'd just heard the last part of this conversation as he ambled into the kitchen. Tyson held out a large arm and all three of them hugged and laughed and cried, joy exploding around the room.

Paul looked at his new son-to-be and said, "I guess this is a yes?!"

Tyson could only cry out a big "YESSS!", with all the love in his huge and beautiful heart.

 _And up on Olympus, Hera and Hestia looked on into the Hearth, together. And they knew that they'd answered more than a few prayers that morning. And well deserved by these people in particular._

 _And back in Paris…_

Annabeth boarded her flight and was directed to the front of the aircraft, a 747. She was a bit startled. She'd paid for coach seating.

"Excuse me miss; but I think you've made a mistake. I'm supposed to be in coach-"...

"No mistake Miss Chase", the dark haired stewardess replied in Greek. Annabeth noted the slate grey eyes. A child of Athena? "You've been upgraded. Two gentlemen gave you their extra air miles and it was sufficient to upgrade you to first class. They left you a note".

The beautiful brunette took the note out of her apron pocket. It was in a rich tan colored envelope, quite expensive actually. Annabeth had seen this before up on Olympus. It was the kind of stationery that the gods used. Just what was this all about? She opened up the envelope and took out the note and read it, and everything suddenly came clear.

" _To Our Beautiful American Friend:_

 _It was too bad you said 'no' to us, the both of us. But we really do understand. You are travelling onward and we are going home. Different directions and all. But please do know that we two brothers are truly your friends, and this parting gift is just our way of saying thank you for an interesting conversation. Good luck in your new life in Greece!"_

 _Sincerely,_

 _Gunther and Alois_

She smiled softly and put the note away. She felt a kind of a tingle in her tummy, suddenly realizing that two Olympian gods had tried to put their best moves on her. Pretty pathetic really. But as she took her seat in the front row of the first class cabin and was given her complimentary glass of champagne, she thought that maybe some of this kind of attention could be a good thing. Maybe?

The stewardesses gathered in a group near the rear of the compartment and just smiled at each other. They all already knew who Annabeth truly was. The Architect of Olympus and twice Hero and Savior, just like Percy Jackson. The Great Praetor.

They wondered where the great demigod and renowned hero was right then. Didn't these two travel together? As attractive as she was, the women really wanted a look at Percy. They were all former legionaries from Camp Jupiter, and had taken the stewardess jobs after serving at least four years as Senior Airmen (E5) or higher in the United States Air Force's Special Forces.

Delta Airlines wanted only those applicants who were both physically fit, and also were considered proficient in hand to hand combat. These women came from the ranks of the USAF's 23rd Air Force Unconventional Warfare Ops Group; in other words, commandos. And they were actually onboard to 'neutralize' any and all threats to their aircraft. They all wore flat heeled shoes as opposed to high heels; always a distinguishing mark in their occupation.

And they all respected Annabeth greatly. They _knew who she was._

They all still wanted a look at "The Praetor".

 _Eight pack abs plus cannonball muscles all around? Slate rock hard pecs? Whew!_

Annabeth relaxed into her seat, a single and extremely luxurious reclining couch-type chair, and closed her eyes as she sipped the lovely alcohol. the FREE lovely alcohol. She was in France, and the "21 year old" drinking laws of the United States didn't apply here.

Annabeth had gotten some pretty good shopping in, and picked herself up several skirts and dresses along with very chic trousers and several more very stylish pairs of shorts… very short shorts. She picked up five pairs of shoes including two pairs of very high heels and a number of really pretty blouses. Ten? Twelve tops?

For really casual wear she still had her longer-legged Camp shorts and t-shirts, and a few pairs of running and hiking sneakers. She already owned cold weather clothing including a particular silver parka that she'd gotten from Thalia before she left. The daughter of Zeus was her oldest friend and she knew why the younger woman had to leave. Thalia didn't like it, but she understood it.

The big jet started it's rotation down the long runway, and pretty soon afterward it smoothly lifted off. The still very troubled young woman was being looked after by no less than ten legionaries and a retired centurion, also retired as a lieutenant-colonel of United States Marines, Force Recon.

They would make sure that Annabeth was handed off properly to her clandestine Greek demigod escorts and the messenger god of the oceans. The gods had a lot invested in her already. It wouldn't do to lose her to an ancient monster just stepping off the aircraft!

Pretty soon, they reached forty five thousand feet; cruising altitude. They would maintain that altitude until their approach to Athens. Annabeth relaxed into her exceedingly comfy chair and thought of 'Gunther und Alois'. She snorted once; mortals her shapely butt! She speculated for a minute and realized that it had been Apollo and Hermes. It had to have been!

A part of her thought they'd both been pretty good looking, and she decided that if they showed up anywhere else along her travels, she would accept an invitation for dinner. It would be nice to make friends, and she'd always loved Luke's father once she got to know him. He'd always treated her respectfully. Of course, she'd been both younger as well as "with" Percy back when she'd last seen Hermes, but he'd treated her respectfully.

She _knew_ he was truly an immortal horn-dog and all. And so was Apollo, but she knew she could handle them both. She was used to fending off godly attempts at getting into her pretty panties. She'd actually gotten really good at rebuffing them.

But just a dinner would be nice, and she wanted to say thanks for the thoughtfulness of the seat upgrade. Say what you want, but Annabeth had very ladylike ethics and manners. And having a god or two on her side was just a good idea for a single woman.

She put her by-now empty champagne glass into its holder on the tray in front of her and closed her eyes. She needed sleep. And for once, she got some very restful shut-eye. Annabeth never woke up until the stewardess nudged her for her lunch and more champagne as they began their long, slow descent to Athens International Airport.

 _Back in Manhattan_

Paul and Tyson came back about 2 p.m. that day. They looked all over for Percy who had gone MIA during his time that morning running. He normally ran five miles every morning before breakfast, and intended to keep up his workout regimen. He needed some regularity, structure somewhere along the line and if he physically exhausted himself, maybe then he would sleep more restfully.

But somewhere along the line in Central Park, along the East Drive he had just stopped and sat down by the side of the road. He'd finally had enough. Annabeth was gone, he couldn't even really rest anymore and besides that he knew that the gods would come calling again for him sooner or later.

They always did. And he didn't ever want to see them again.

He just didn't want to be a part of it anymore. Percy knew that he could no longer be part of the "Greek world". It wasn't fair to himself or his immediate family. But besides that, hadn't he done enough already? He was barely twenty years old and had commanded the Greek forces in two major wars before he was even 18!

He'd been made a praetor of a Roman legion by battlefield acclamation, and was considered the bane and killer of so many Titans, gods, and monsters that he had virtually lost track of everybody he'd disposed of! He couldn't get any rest from all the women, some of the men and some of the gods as well who constantly made plays for his vaunted attentions. They all wanted a part of him for themselves. They all just literally threw themselves at him!

But what did he want? Not any of them.

He didn't know what he wanted any longer. He did want one… just one... other person in this entire effing world who would _dare_ to touch his poisoned soul, who he _KNEW_ he could trust his heart to.

But she had left him.

He needed to do some serious soul-searching and find out what it was he wanted to do and where it was he intended to go with his life. He knew that he wanted his mother in his life, and he wanted his own immediate family in his life.

He loved his stepdad, he loved his brother Tyson, and he would love any children that his mother and his stepfather had. They'd been talking about it and he couldn't wait to see if he'd be a big brother to some little child who he could mentor and protect and love. Especially love.

Percy really wanted children of his own down deep, but he never let himself think about that because in his heart he knew he wasn't ready for it yet. He wasn't ready to be a parent, but being a big brother suited him fine. He loved watching the young mothers and their children in the parks, especially at the playground where his mother used to take him just across town in Central Park. It was right near the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 5th Avenue, near 78th street and right inside the park walls, just down the drive a few feet.

That area of Central Park was a favorite of his, and not too far from the Boating Pond. Both the playground and the pond was really crowded on Sundays. And the Zoo was about ten more blocks downtown from there. Percy could _think_ there. And he had fully intended to sit at the pond for awhile. But he never got there. He was still where he'd sat down, right along the Park Drive.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he entered a kind of a dream state, almost a mental fugue state to be exact. Morpheus, who loved the park was walking along when he saw Percy. He mentally reached out to Percy and suddenly realized he wasn't dreaming and didn't respond to Morpheus' mental "taps on his psychic shoulder".

But he did recognize the state that Percy was in and he sent out a message to Lady Artemis, to pass along to Thalia that her cousin was not doing well and was just sitting alone in the park. Morpheus promised to stay there and keep an eye on Percy and watch his back so that he would not be attacked and harmed.

The god of sleep did realize that Perseus was in no fit state to protect himself or anybody else, and was probably not even aware of his own surroundings at that point in time. So he just stayed nearby and watched out, and waited for the cavalry to come.

 _Lake Sheboygan, Wisconsin_

" _Thalia!_ I just received a message from Morpheus that Percy isn't doing well right now. He's in New York, in Central Park".

"WHAT!? What does 'not all right' mean? Is he under attack?! HUNTERRRS! GRAB YOUR WEAPONS!"

" _NO! HUNTERS STAND DOWN!_ Sister, Perseus is physically fine. But Morpheus said he's been just… sitting. _Sitting_. For _hours_ now. No monsters. No combat. He's just been unresponsive, nearly mentally comatose for about five hours now. Morpheus is watching our cousin and he will stay there with him until someone comes to get him. There! Better?"

The group of Huntresses that had gathered looked at their leader/goddess and her lieutenant, and just waited quietly for their next directions.

Tqhalia was quiet for a minute, and then a grin broke out on her face. "I know what to do! I'll IM Sally Jackson, his mother! She's nearby and she'll get him back to her place. Problem solved!"

Thalia searched her pockets, but they were empty.

"Hey! Anybody have a gold drachma?"

Sally looked up when she heard a voice. Paul had just checked in by cell phone; had she turned hers off? She picked up her cell, but again a female voice said, "Ms Jackson? Please look up!"

And she saw Artemis in an Iris Message visual field, as Annabeth had called them. "Yes! Hello! You're Lady Artemis, aren't you?"

"Yes, Ms Jackson. Thalia, my sister is here with me and-"

"Hi, Ms J! How ya doing! Long time no see! My sister and I have a message for you!"

"Thalia? Is that you?! It's been so long, dear! I haven't seen or heard from any demigods in so long! It's wonderful to see you! How are you!? How is The Hunt? Did you get the cookies I sent? Oh dear, I do hope you didn't use Hermes' rear gear for target practice? And by the way, it's MRS Blofis now." Sally held up her ring finger to show off her wedding and engagement rings. "Paul and I got married almost two years ago!", she said with a heartfelt grin.

The two sisters looked at each other and laughed. In regards to Hermes, a couple of the newer Hunters had done exactly that,used Hermes' twitchy tuchas for a bullseye. But they also laughed for happiness about the wedding. No woman they knew save Annabeth deserved happiness more than Sally!

As for Hermes he'd been ready for them, and he didn't get hurt. The five dozen cookies had been a present for Thalia on her fifth year anniversary in The Hunt. She'd shared of course, and all of a sudden Sally could hear thirty-seven young voices all chime in with a very hearty, "Thank You, Ms Jackson!"

Sally grinned as Artemis smiled and said, "Yes, thank you so very, very much. It was really lovely of you to remember Thalia's anniversary, and include enough that everyone got a few. They were better than ambrosia!"

Sally really did appreciate the en masse 'thank yous', but she was more concerned with the message about Percy.

So getting down to brass tacks, she asked directly, "You're all very welcome, but what is this message; is it about my son? Should I be worried? Thalia, truthfully; is Percy hurt? Where is he? He went out this morning about five am for his normal five mile run, and we haven't seen him or heard from him since".

Artemis took over the conversation about then and she related everything that Morpheus had told her. Sally thought for a second and then threw another drachma into the field of view.

"Fleecy! Are you there, dear? Can you do me a solid please?"

The coin was ejected right back at Sally and she caught it deftly. The Nebulae's static-like voice came on and said, "Hiya, Ms J! Good to talk to ya! Something I can do for you? Oh! Hello, Lady Artemis, and you too, Thalia!"

The friendly Fleecy handled almost all the switchboard work for Iris these days with the exception of godly requests. Those were usually handled by Iris herself.

"Hello, Fleecy!"

"Yeah, hey there Fleecy! How ya been?"

"Okayyy, you know how it is; so, what can I do for you all today?"

...

"Paul?"

"Hi, honey! Have you had any word where he is?"

"Yes. Long story short, check in the Park, East Drive about East 83rd St. He should be just sitting there, by the jogging track. I'll explain the rest when you're all home".

"Okay; Tyson and I will grab a cab and get there quick. Thanks!"

"And baby? Thank you for always being here for us all."

"That's my job, sweetie. That's what I do best! I just want to take care of my beautiful wife and our two wonderful sons."

 _30 minutes later…_

"...and he was just sitting there, kind of… well, just crying. He kept saying how he'd 'had enough, enough, enough, no more, no more'. I couldn"t get him to talk with me, but at one point he kind of two-armed hugged both Tyson and me at the same time. Yeesh! He's really strong, our big son! And so is our younger son!"

"Mama? Big brother wouldn't let me or Papa up! Percy is super-strong! But he says "Enough" and "No more". What does he mean, Mama? What's wrong? Why won't my brother talk to us?"

Tyson turned his one lovely soft brown cow eye to his new Mama as if to see the answer in her face, and it was a troubled face. She glanced at her husband's strong features, but he was at a loss also.

Percy was still just sitting there, mumbling incoherently, asking…(?) To someone, anyone, "Why? Why?"

And for once, this one time Sally had no answers. But she thought she knew someone who might.

 _Athens International Airport_

The man in the crisp off-white linen suit did stand out. He stood about 6'4", had an obviously athletic build, and wore a small gold earring in his left earlobe. His black hair was almost a midnight blue and was slicked back, just short of shoulder length and tied with a black band into a 'man-tail'.

His features were reminiscent of Percy's but even more so like their father's. It was a handsome face without the blatant youth of Percy's features. All in all, a strikingly handsome male specimen. And his photo had been taken by almost every sweet young girl in the terminal, and some sweet not-so-young thangs also! Triton was truly enjoying himself, and the adulation he was receiving from these mortals was feeling to him almost as if it were a form of worship (kinda, sorta, maybe a bit?), which fueled his immortality.

He decided he liked this. Maybe he should do this more often?

The beautiful blonde came down the jetway, and she couldn't be missed. Just not possible. She was casually escorted by the crewpeople of the aircraft. It had been an uneventful ride, quite relaxing really.

Annabeth had eaten a wonderful meal, a hearty selection was to be had and Annabeth had picked the available traditional Greek meal; Taramosalata, moussaka and finally a delicious slice of melon with a cup of heavy Middle Eastern coffee. She slept the rest of the way.

So, all rested and refreshed and fortified by a final glass of champagne, she didn't fall on her shapely backside on her new three inch heels and black pencil skirt when she saw Triton standing at the gate waiting for her. Her jaw dropped but she didn't.

At first, she thought it was Percy who was waiting for her and she couldn't figure out why he was dressed that way. The height was about right but the hair was all wrong and Percy didn't have a pierced ear.

She realized all of a sudden that this could not be Percy unless he had been transported by a god, and that was not likely given the number of gods in favor of Annabeth getting away from Percy for a while so that they could both regain their respective mental health. None of them wanted to see either of them break down. No, they'd be needed again in the future. Some war or other conflict; who knew?

Of course neither would ever have gotten to their current state of mind if not for said gods to begin with. But the gods couldn't conceive of that truth. It just wasn't in their personalities to do so. And so their children all suffered.

"Hello, Miss Chase! Did you have a good flight?"

Triton nodded to the crewmen, dismissing them with a brilliant smile, and he placed his hand gently in the small of Annabeth's back, "steering" her to a waiting golf cart which would be their transportation to the Greek Immigration supervisor.

Annabeth caught herself almost gawking. She kinda hoped that Percy would grow up to look like this other son of Poseidon. "Thank you Lord Triton, my flights were both good. The food was great and I got some rest as well".

The airport Immigration Commander had been called that morning at 3am by no less a personage than the Minister for Migration Policy, her ultimate agency head. He had made it imperative that the incoming Hellenic American student was to be treated as a VIP of the highest rank.

She was to receive her long-term residence permit and an information packet on becoming a citizen of Greece if she wished. The paperwork had already been couriered over and was on the Commander's desk in a sealed envelope. There was an armed squad of special forces men securing the office.

Ms Chase was highly regarded by the " _HIGHEST OF ALL HELLENIC AUTHORITIES"_ (the prime minister, the Patriarch, the deposed nobility, WHO?), and was to be accorded all respect including full dress uniforms by EVERYBODY on duty, and the "gentleman" accompanying her was to be addressed as "My Lord" and in no other way. No further explanations were offered and none were asked for.

So when the two walked into the office arm in arm (Triton _was_ just a bit pushy, but Annabeth was smiling) the commander got up from her desk and exited her office. She called her staff to attention and they 'fell in'.

"My Lord, Ms Chase! Welcome! Please come into my office. Ms Chase, I am Commander Andrea Maragos, and it is my pleasure to welcome you home to Greece!"

Five minutes later, all the paperwork had been signed and Annabeth had an indefinite immigration permit to live, study, whatever in Greece. And since she spoke the language naturally, she would be right at home. The beautiful young woman already felt welcomed by Triton, although she _knew_ what he wanted by way of a " _welcome home"._

 _Not happening._

Not today, at any rate.

Triton started telling her more of what she'd need to know. "Okay, we have a house all ready for you, and it's in a very nice section of town. Your mother, my adopted daughter told me where to look and no expense has been spared. You have four bedrooms, a hot tub, a gourmet hi-tech kitchen, your own work studio and a T1 fiber optic cable connection that can interface easily with your 'extra special laptop' (Daedalus' laptop) and your very high end audio-visual equipment. You're even hooked up to the new demigod version of Hephaestus TV as well as the extremely high end equipment that your mother, Hermes and I have put together for you that will get you television and internet signals from around the world. And all your bills are being taken care of by me.

"You will have absolutely unrestricted access to every database in the world. Your work on Olympus may continue along with your work connected to your studies, and you start school in two weeks".

The Rolls Royce extended Phantom limousine pulled up to the curb as they walked outside and the driver exited his side. A big man, burly chested and strong by his features, came around the side and opened the rear door for his passengers. Annabeth's luggage was already in the trunk of the vehicle and Triton stood aside to let her in first.

They were both perfect gentlemen, and what a view of her marvelous rear! Yummy! Now THAT was a reward!

Oblivious to Triton's attentions, she climbed in and sat on the wide bench seat. There was a feel of incredible and unbelievable luxury. The cream colored leather seats felt butter soft; the interior was a combination of leathers of varying quality and softness as well as mahogany and teakwood that had a smooth surface texture and looked slightly worn, (old, maybe from sunken treasure ships?) but it all had warm and comfy look about it all.

Triton climbed in and sat down, and he settled his gaze on his 'daughter's' most favored child. This demigoddess had uncovered the Athena Parthenos, fallen into the ultimate Greek hell, and along with his valiant and courageous younger brother had persevered and made it through alive to close the fabled Doors of Death and finding an exit from Tartarus through yet another titanic battle inside the ancient House of Hades in Epirus, Greece. They fought that battle alongside the rest of The Seven.

This woman, as a 17 year old teenager along with his rapscallion of a step-brother had written new history and they'd both become the two greatest living legends of all the demigods throughout Greek history.

This amazingly beautiful woman was a bona-fide killer with a dagger and held his brother's heart in her hands.

And Triton knew without a doubt by way of his father that she had crushed his brother completely by leaving him. Any loyalty to his adopted daughter's own spawn he might otherwise have felt evaporated in the light of that truth.

Triton might not love his brother, but they were both Sons of the Seas, sons of Poseidon and Princes of the Oceans . And THAT REALLY COUNTED! For them, loyalty was everything.

Triton looked over at the still slightly tipsy Heroine of Olympus and smiled at her. "Feeling okay, Ms Chase?"

"Please call me Annabeth. Ms Chase is too formal".

"Well then Annabeth, I suppose you should just call me Triton".

The stunning blonde laughed lightly as the driver, a Merman of Triton's personal guard started the huge and beautiful car up and pulled slowly and gently out into traffic. Karkarsh was an officer, a vice-commander of Triton's personal guard and was extremely and personally loyal to his lord.

In short, he kept his mouth shut, his eyes focused on everyone else who might be a threat and he raised the privacy screen between the front and rear compartments. He knew where to take them.

And he knew to take the long way.

Whatever happened in that back seat STAYED in that back seat. The screen went up and it turned darkly opaque.

"Ms Chase? Annabeth?"

The slightly tipsy blonde was about to get a lot more tipsy.

"Hmm? Yes… Triton?"

This last was accompanied by a slightly sly and appreciative evaluation of the gorgeous hunk of man who just _seemed_ so familiar.

"Would you like some champagne? Dom Perignon, '57?"

Annabeth smiled and reached for the proffered glass, taking it and giggling a little; it tickled her nose, those bubbles! Mmm!

"MMMM! This is deLICIOUS!" The wine was filling the ache in her heart and Triton looked _so much_ like her SeaWeed Brain...

The very woman-savvy sea god made up his mind to try; she was fair game and too good to pass up.

And would ultimately prove easy , he thought. Who knew Annabeth Chase had no tolerance for alcohol?

It was going to prove a long ride and a very long night. And a boatload of drachma was going to change hands.

 _Manhattan, same day_

"Hello, Papa Stavriou"?

"Yes, this is Stavriou, who is… Sally? Sally Jackson?" the old priest smiled broadly. He remembered this good woman from their talks when she was still a teenager.

"Yes Although it's Sally Blofis now. I got married a couple of years ago."

"Ohh, wonderful… I hope? Not that ''Gabriel' fellow?"

"Oh! No; no no no! A wonderful man, I met him through school. I went back to college and began a writing course. He's an English teacher and helped tutor me".

"Well, that's wonderful to hear Sally! So how can I help you? This isn't just a social call, I think?"

Sally paused and bit her lower lip. Her baby boy needed this. It would help him.

"No, Father. It's not. It's my son Percy, Perseus. I still remember that day out on the street… please Father. Percy is in agony; he's quite literally been through hell, through Tartarus! And his partner, his love has had to leave him. I'm afraid he's starting to lose his mind! You KNOW the problems we all have as a result of our allegiances to 'those beings'. I'm almost sorry for my own. But if I had not given myself to his father.."

"You would not now have your son. And you are smart to refrain from using their names. Names draw their attentions, names have power".

At some point in their conversation they'd both switched to the Greek language. The elderly priest had been born in the city of Kalambaka, near the famous Meteora monasteries in Thessaly. It was just a few hundred miles from the original Mount Olympus.

There had been a large community of legacies going back thousands of years. Real live demigods were big news then, and when Apollo worked his way on the old priest's mother back when she was a young and virginal maiden, and never spoke to either of them again, his mother went and found a good man called Petriou Andargas who wanted to marry her and be a father to her illustrious boys. Both of them.

Apollo who?

And the little family was happy.

But nothing lasts forever, and if not for the fact that Dionysus had gone through the area checking local vineyards in response to prayers of local farmers (the old ways never really died) the two boys might have lived and died in the area. Died a lot sooner.

Monsters also abounded in that area, particularly Empousae. The boys went to the Camp in the USA and never went home to Greece again. Their mother and her husband had three children of their own, and it was decided that for the safety of all the five mortals, the two brothers should remain in the United States and in their own world.

Stavriou knew exactly the kinds of problems Sally meant. He asked the one question he saw that needed answering.

His tone of voice was soft and gentle, very understanding. This good woman needed this kind of attention here. Her family was truly in danger, but he would never push this;

"Sally, do you want me to come over? We could talk and you could maybe introduce me?"

No hesitation: "Yes Papa, please, please do come. But there's just one thing before you do that I need to let you know. Percy's younger brother by his father; he's a Cyclope. Very gentle and loving. Tyson is very kind. And we've taken him in. He's still a child, really. And his birth father does know and approves".

That gave Stavriou pause for a few seconds. But he'd dealt with Cyclopes before. If these caring and good people trusted this young one then so would he.

"That's fine, and thank you for warning me! Always good to know. I will talk with him as well as Perseus. I'm sure that 'Tyson' will have a lot to tell me as well!"

"Ohh, Papa Stavriou this is good news! When do you think you might be able to come over?"

"Well, what's for dinner? I can come over there this evening and stay for a bit. Do you think your husband could drive me back?"

"We're having leftover pot roast. Percy and Tyson came home last night and we all sat down, but Percy kind of lost it and I just put everything up until tonight".

Stavriou smiled; Sally's pot roast was amazing and he was sure that dinner would be wonderful.

"That's fine! Don't worry about the things we cannot change, Sally. You and I and Paul will try to help your sons make everyone's lives better. And the pot roast will be excellent, I have no doubt! I can be there in an hour. Does that work? We can sit and have coffee, and I will help set the table. Paul is home, yes? He and I can get to know each other. Does he like baseball?"

"Yes! He does! He's a big Yankees fan, even has an annual reserved seat!"

"See? We like the same things, he and I. And Percy likes to spar with a blade, right?"

"My son is considered the greatest living swordsman among both Camps. He even defeated the war guy (no names here!) in a one on one match when he was twelve!"

Now THAT was REALLY _IMPRESSIVE!_

"Wow! I guess I'm going to have to up my game a bit! But I am sure Percy and I will get along just fine. And so will Tyson and I. He is creative, a smith, no?"

"Yes! You hit it on the head! Tyson is very creative. In fact, he told me a little while ago he had something to give me that he made over this summer. My youngest is a very sensitive and creative person! I can't wait to introduce you all!"

The old priest chuckled, remembering just how very creative Sally herself could be. He decided it was time.

"Sally, I'm going to grab a few things and then I'll get on my way. I will see you soon".

"Please catch a cab. No trains, that just takes too long. I'll pay, please! Let me give you our address; we've moved." She started hearing her friend protest the cost but she was absolutely adamant and she soon prevailed.

As they both hung up the phones Sally reflected that this might be the beginning of a whole new day for her son. She had been worried sick for many years now, ever since Grover had dragged Percy back to the old house yelling at Sally that it was time to get him to Camp immediately.

She'd known that her son would be safe in Camp, but getting him there had been the problem. Her time with Hades had been a nightmare. And by now she herself was ready for a change as well. She had talked to Paul a few times about this and she was ready to be placed beyond the authority of the old Pantheon. It was finally time.

Sally had hesitated this long only out of loyalty to her son. But she was ready to make a move and if she and Paul were blessed with any children of their own, there would be no arguments or second thoughts; any of their children would be baptized as soon as the church prescribed because she wanted them kept safe and away from all this madness.

Her son was so young and had lived so much already. He had accomplished so much with his short life, a life spent risking his very existence and now his life spent in grief, having lost his first and possibly his greatest love. And all because of 12 very selfish and self-centered beings who dared to call themselves "gods".

If Sally had this right, and she was pretty sure that she did, they would soon see what the REAL God was all about! She just hoped that Percy's father did not have to pay the price as well, and neither would Tyson.

Tyson; he was another consideration. She needed as much information as she could get to make this work and to keep Tyson safe as well. He didn't have anywhere near the same degree of problems that Percy did and he fit much more easily into his world within all this framework than Percy had in his.

The question for this evening would be: could she help the boys and her husband in putting together a world in which they would all be safe and still be a family? She resolved to find all of this out from Papa Stavriou tonight.

And she resolved further to get the education in her newly chosen faith that she would need in order to help live and guide her family lthrough all this. It was her responsibility because she had brought this to everyone with her love for the god of the oceans.

It hurt her heart to think this way; she sincerely wished she had never met him.

AN

 _So that's chapter five. This is a story about what one man can do to live his life, serve the world and beat the gods he's always known for one, just ONE God who has supplanted virtually all the European and a lot of the African and Asian pantheons over the last two thousand years._

 _Annabeth will "write her own chapter" as will Percy and Tyson. And once she is free of all the constraints she's been forced to live with all of her son's life, so will Sally. Paul will go on to do great things once the twelve stooges are forced to leave him alone as well._

 _Ever wonder just how much the Olympians might have been restraining everyone's lives in order to "better serve the gods"? If Aphrodite thinks that Annabeth's possible infidelity will cause Percy and his family to come back into the "warm and caring embrace of Camp life and Olympus, for the greater good", welll, she's got another think coming!_

 _They ALL do._

 _So? Please read and REVIEW! I think there are many of you I'm not reaching. Please do review and tell me now what does or doesn't appeal to you in this story._


	6. Chapter 6

Percy's New Path chapter 6

Ok, I still don't own… well, anything in re: PJO/HOO/TOO, the Bible, Bullfinch's Mythology or anything else possibly, mildly relevant to this story. That being said, here we go:

This story has gotten some extremely mixed reviews. And knowing what you guys think is really helpful to me. All of you who are still shipping Percabeth; this isn't _that kind_ of a story. It's the kind of story that tries to point out that the gods have SHORTCOMINGS! And that the way in which they "work" with their children is such an abortive attempt at "parenting" that their "parental skills" are just about nil, null and void.

Triton's severe case of "excusology" should indicate his unwillingness and inability to respect either Percy or Annabeth, let alone his own adopted daughter or even himself.

And this is one of THE major points behind this story; that not even one of the gods looks on their own children as individuals, as _people._

For these beings, there is only "We the Gods" and all the rest of us are either their tools or their toys. Unless… a person puts themselves so far beyond the gods' reach…

This is a "what if" story, a tale that illustrates just why the phrase 'Olympian "gods"' uses a lowercase letter "g", and why the OTHER God is denoted with the upper case version. And in this story, I'm going to get all theological and all, but also interpersonal and familial, as well as show how whatever those pesky lowercase "gods" try to do to try (lamely) to fix what they broke just won't work. And once they realize just what the REAL LIFE consequences are to them, they have no clue as to how to handle things so as to truly _REPAIR_ them.

And how the world will just go on without them as a result. This story is about that lesson, the lesson yet to be learned.

So let's look in on Artemis and see how she's doing since we left her five years ago.

 _The Horace Mann School, Riverdale NY, 2037(ad)_

The Horace Mann School is a K-12 private school located in the northwest Bronx section of NY City known as Riverdale. A generally quite upscale part of the city that never sleeps, it is mostly residential and it has its own mini-section called Fieldston. Fieldston has stone walls that separate most of the community from the rest of Riverdale, chains across the roads, a private security force, and million dollar homes are the absolute rule here. Cadillacs and Lincolns abound here. The live-in help drive Buicks.

It was 2:30 pm, time for class dismissal. A beautiful early September day, and school had just started. Amelia d'Agoberto was an idealistic young 24 year old Kindergarten teacher. She had twenty-two 6 year olds in her charge.

"Everybody have your coats?"

"Yes Ms 'D'!" came the ready reply.

" All right class, now form your lines, just like we practiced; no Jimmy! In the boys' line! Leave your female classmates alone!"

(Isn't there ALWAYS a "little Jimmy"?)

The 6 year old towhead was gonna be a handful! No doubt about that. The vice-principal, a 56 year old 'veteran' and all-around helpful soul, Jacquie Flaubert knew that a new teacher in the K-2 classes often could use a hand at dismissal, especially with some of the very anxious young mothers.

Especially with their "special" new student. The child, Artemis Blank was being picked up by her governess (and Aunt?) an older lady in her 40's who went by the name of 'Hestia' Detweiler. A large Rolls-Royce limo had deposited them for the initial interview. The driver had been a very large young man, very alert.

The chauffeur had a well-muscled look about him, and it had occurred to Flaubert that he might well also be a professional bodyguard-driver. It made the experienced teacher and former Senior Chief Yeoman, USN (ret) wonder…SEAL, Green Beret? Maybe SAS?

And wonder she might. Argus was well cloaked by the Mist. So no more than one pair of eyes. But he did have a military bearing. And he was always 'ready'.

As the class made its way out to the main pickup area, the two teachers noticed some odd things about the crowd of… parents? Some of them didn't look like parents of Horace Mann students. There was a fire engine red pickup truck, a Dodge 3500 with a light rack atop the cab, a full cab that held at least five and an extended flatbed. And a full load of very large… rednecks? HERE? IN THE BRONX?

The limo picking up Artemis Blank glided in as ten SUV's marked "US FEDERAL PROTECTIVE SERVICE" roared in and trucks full of well-armed officers dressed in black kevlar and armed with full-on battle rifles, some with shotguns (all loaded with celestial bronze slugs) headed off several of these groups and handcuffed them all. A number of other "wrong-looking individuals" were also swept up and all were deposited in a well-armored school bus that was painted yellow and had been parked by the curb.

Both teachers had reacted quickly as had all the other teachers, getting all the children back into the school and closing the school down. Regular NYPD Units had moved in on the Feds' heels and took care of nervous parents, checking ID's and ascertaining 'who was who' in this mess.

A bushy haired gentleman in a motorized wheelchair rolled up to the main doors along with two very official looking plainclothesmen… women in blue windbreaker jackets and trousers that were stamped with "US SECRET SERVICE" on the back and with a very official looking gold badge hanging from a special belt holder, along with a very large semi-automatic handgun, several extra magazines and cell phones in holsters. They all had earpieces in their right ears and sunglasses of a military variety that Jacquie recognized from her time in the service as "special operators' specs" (ie: commandos).

"Hello ladies! Are you Ms Flaubert, the Vice Principal here?"

"Yes I am! And while we are grateful for the help given here, would you mind telling me why we were never informed of a Secret Service presence here?

"I am Supervising Area Director Chiron Agostos of this unit. We are here to keep… one of your students safe while she attends this school. We will be following her every day. And we were only made aware of this particular threat two hours ago. I apologize for the lack of information. But it was better that no one knew we were coming. We believe we got the entire ring; twenty two terrorists!

"And please excuse my bad manners! These are my two most senior deputies, Deputy Supervising Field Agent LaRue and Supervising Unit Director Reyna Arellano.

The two "agents" introduced themselves, smiles all around. The vice-principal tried keeping her cool, but in light of what could have happened today, it was truly very difficult.

The "agents" were done mopping up within minutes; the counseling that would surely follow would be handled by the NYPD and an appearance by "NYPD Chief (3 stars) of Special Services (Lord) Donny (Dionysus) O'Shea" would follow each interview so that any child who truly saw the monsters for what they truly were could be either made to forget, or found as either a demigod or as a legacy and also to determine their parentage. And then they would speak with the (usually unsuspecting) parent(s).

Ever since Percy had made his second set of "gifts/requests" instead of accepting his theophany… _AGAIN…_ more and more legacies had been found for the Greeks. And most went back a fair bit! There were now over a thousand "campers" at Camp Half Blood; and there were nearly five hundred more than that number lodged and in training now in the Legion Barracks at Camp Jupiter.

Clarisse spoke up next, "Director, I'll go take care of the mop-up now if you don't mind. I want to get these "individuals into processing" as fast as possible".

{Translation: "I'm going to immolate them into gold dusty slag".}

Chiron smiled and simply said, " Thank you, LaRue. And please tell your teams 'Jobs Well Done'".

Clarisse smiled. This was Chiron"s highest possible praise. She and Reyna made a top-flight team, and all their mass takedowns and assaults had gone perfectly, completely perfectly. It was almost like having an 'Annabeth Chase" working with her. Although Clarisse did feel well-shut of _that one_. What she had done, the way she had done it had cost the Greeks their heart and soul.

It had cost them Percy Jackson.

Clarisse hadn't seen nor heard from or of Percy since 2015. He'd been about to do some religious shtick with one of the Catholic churches, which one she couldn't remember. Clarisse only hoped that Percy finally had achieved a measure of peace. He had needed it.

 _Nightfall, Camp Half Blood_

Reyna sat near the Hearth in the Dining Pavilion, just soaking up the warmth. She could see Lady Hestia in her motherly form just poking the coals. They were burning merrily and provided a great deal of warmth to the chilly Long Island night air. Western Suffolk County was surrounded on three sides by both Ocean and the Sound, and when the stars came out the sweaters went on.

The Praetor Emeritus and Proconsul was thinking of her former colleague, Perseus. He'd been the greatest warrior son the Pantheon had ever produced. The day he battled and killed Polybotes the Gigante just on the city border of New Rome, he had been an arc of pure destruction. Reyna could see him in her mind's eye actually defeating Ares back when Percy had been just a skinny young runt of twelve years.

Annabeth, who had told Reyna that story said to her that the battle had been breathtaking. Perseus had commanded the Pacific Ocean, actually commanded it into a mini-tidal wave that swamped the war god, but didn't even get the Son of Neptune wet!

Such power! Such majesty! He was truly Poseidon's "Prince Among Men"! And he absolutely deserved his statue in the Forum: "Perseus Praetor Magni". It meant "The Great Praetor Perseus" in English. There was a plaque… she felt a tingling in her heart. She missed him and thought to herself, "I NEVER would have left him, no matter what!"

Reyna suddenly felt a presence next to her; Hestia had joined her and had snuggled close.

"A drachma for your thoughts, Consul". Reyna had been elected Pro-Consul in Rome almost twenty years ago. She had a few more years to run, and then she was going to step down.

"Ahhhh, Magna Mater; I was just remembering… it was all so long ago now". Reyna sat up straight and snuggled back into "the Great Mother", Vesta Mater. She smiled fondly, and snuggled further into the warm goddess, her thoughts taking her back 26 years...

 _Mount Olympus, AD 2011_

It was in September 2011, right after the awards had been announced that The Seven (plus three!) had been brought before a Grand Assembly of all gods and demigods. They gathered in the Throne Room on Olympus and it was the first and only assembly of its kind ever.

"Our Children! You have excelled beyond excellence! You have fought side by side with we, your parents and WE ARE PRRROUD OF YOU ALL!"

The cheers had deafened and even still, the voice of Zeus/Jupiter carried over everyone's cries of acclaim.

"My own son, Jason Grace. Step forward".

And her former colleague stepped forward. He was made Pontifex Maximus, the "Great Bridge" between gods and men. It would be his job to build the temples, to ensure the worship and rites, and he would be helped by Piper McLean as Pontifex and Reina Sacrorum, "queen of sacred worship". Together they formed the new institution of the Collegium Pontificatum, a new priestly caste, and each god or goddess' rites would be carried out by priests who were usually drawn from among their own children.

It was Jason and Piper's joint concept, so they got these greatest of sacred trusts. And they could marry.

Frank and Hazel were both called forward and were relieved of their individual curses, and Frank's life was set free of that awful fire stick. His life force, a third of which had been spent in freeing Thanatos was returned to him, giving him a full life long to look forward to.

Hazel was, with the approval of the Three Moirae given her originally allotted long life back as well. She had originally sacrificed herself in stopping the rise of Alcyoneus when she was first killed in 1942. She and Frank later got married as soon as they both came of age. The celebrations had lasted a week, and they now had four beautiful, powerful children! One was named Jason, the other boy was Percy.

Leo Valdez asked that Calypso be freed from her island and when the gods tried to shuck and jive on it, claiming that she was "free to leave", Leo asked, "How can she do that, exactly?"

Percy stepped in and called the gods on this. He had made that a condition of his first round of gifts. Zeus and the Council, unwilling to be so embarrassed transported Calypso into the hall and when she heard that her freedom was due to Leo's and Percy's demands, she broke down in tears.

The two heroes went over to her and got her up. Hera descended from her throne to "keep things kosher", but Percy put Calypso squarely in Leo's arms anyway.

"He's your hero; and I think that…"

They kissed. Amid thousands of cheers and a throne room full of gods and heroes, they kissed one of history's greatest kisses. Even Hera blushed!

Shaking his head and grinning, the greatest hero took his place back, standing with the rest of the group along with Nico, Reyna and Gleeson Hedge.

Annabeth was appointed Grand Olympian Architect, responsible for both Camps and New Rome, and was blessed by every god and goddess with gifts appropriate to her tasks. She pledged to work closely with Jason and Piper and to always do the best job that she possibly could; the gods all gave her their best gifts and ideas. She was awarded an office and a house on Olympus and a full staff to help her with drafting, and engineers to help with site measurements. Poseidon pledged the forges and labor. Her complete education and life salary of a half-million dollars per year was assured her.

Her mother gifted her with a special blessed lead pencil, a mechanical contrivance made by Hephaestus. It would never run out of graphite with which to write, and would do exactly the job of drawing that she needed it to do on every stroke as per her thoughts. It was Hephaestus' greatest invention, an intuitive automaton.

Nico was made Prince of the Underworld and given increases in his energies and powers. Reyna was made Praetor Emeritus and Proconsul of New Rome for life. Gleeson Hedge was given a lifetime supply of MMA, martial arts movies by all the greats as well as a new baseball bat made out of celestial bronze and imperial gold alloyed with titanium.

It came to Percy's turn. Not any one other hero was offered immortality. Not even Annabeth. Oh well. Percy didn't want it anyway. He wondered idly what he would be offered this time. He only hoped that it would not be more of the same. He didn't want hard feelings between himself and his uncles or his aunts or his cousins.

Especially not with his father. He hated the idea of disappointing the old man, but as much as he loved him he didn't think he wanted to spend eternity with him.

"PERSEUS, SON OF POSEIDON…"

Percy began the long walk up to the steps before the gods. He bowed before Zeus and then turned to kneel on the first step before his father. But something curious happened this time.

As he approached the steps they began to look smaller and smaller. He stopped and looked around.

From everyone's faces he realized that they weren't getting smaller, he was getting bigger. What was going on here, he thought worriedly?

He knelt on the first step before his father, but his father said, "My son, come up to me". So Percy continued to climb all ten gargantuan steps until he was standing directly before his father who stood up out of his throne and embraced him closely.

He could smell the salt on his father, and he could hear the ocean and the sea's atmosphere around them both. He felt incredible, powerful beyond all means. He felt an unbridled capability and strength unlike anything he had ever felt, and as if he could do anything he desired.

Was this what godhood felt like? Was this what it felt like to enjoy divine power?

Percy pulled back from his father and looked at him right in the eyes and asked him, "Dad, just what is going on here? You guys haven't changed me have you? Because I won't have it like this… IF at all".

Poseidon laughed very gently and put his hands on Percy shoulders and said, "No my son, this was just a little taste to show you what it might feel like for you. In reality it would feel like so much more. And you really do deserve the honor of being able to climb the steps and embrace me on a level equal to my throne. It is an honor never accorded anyone before in our history. Only Olympians have ever stood up here on this TOP step. And only you have stood here twice. Once in defending us from our father, and now in recognition of your incredible deeds".

Poseidon turned to face the other Olympians and posed the question: "Does anyone here say that my son is not worthy? Let them speak now or forever hold their peace….

... "My son has excelled above all other demigods and even above many gods. He has very nearly given his life for our Pantheon so many times we've lost track.

"I would have him as my right hand and just second to my son Triton in terms of succession. He is already our greatest warrior demigod, and the greatest leader of demigods. He is Praetor in Rome and Basileus in Greece. He is respected by all his peers and loved by many. He has been generous in victory and kind to those in need, even to our enemies when he has defeated them.

"He is gentle to our children, especially the youngest among them. He is their big brother, almost a father, and ever ready with a willing ear. He is raising our children for us and learning how to do that along with all his peers.

"He has won my confidence and I will ever say he is worthy whether it be today or a hundred years from now. But it is his decision and his alone. Let no one hold any part of his decision against him. For even though he has refused this once before, his choices then have benefited us all. We are greater now than we ever have been and largely because of my son".

Zeus spoke then: "My greatest nephew, would that you were my son as well as Jason here. You and he performed as true brothers both in arms, as well as in blood. You have both forged alliances that will last forever now.

"And you have both shown the wisdom in my wife's great plan. You have done true honor to the gods in doing the very best that you knew how to do and in working closely with every member of your Great Quest.

"You have shown trust with the Romans, trust with the nature spirits, you have the complete trust of the Lord of the Wild as well as the Council of Cloven Elders. You bear the blessings of the great god Pan, son of Hermes who has preceded us into the void.

"May his name be ever blessed.

"Perseus, I ask you this now a second time. This moment is historical for no one has ever been asked to accede to godhood a second time. But the oceans are as unpredictable as are you. The only thing that is absolutely predictable about you is your loyalty. And that is a thing to be greatly prized and proud of. And I am proud of you Perseus.

"And to all of you here I say this; the mortal parents of Perseus Jackson, Sally and Paul Blofis and any children of theirs are sacrosanct to Olympus. Their persons are to remain ever inviolate and they are to be treated with the utmost respect forever and until the end of their own bloodline. May they who dare our words this day be cursed unto the River Styx in punishment for all eternity! (Thunder booming, lightning flashing)

"They too have lifted arms in defense of Olympus and killed our enemies in support of Perseus and the other demigods. They didn't even think about it, they just went and did it. Their names will be carved into this throne room next to their son's when telling the tales of his own deeds. And Sally Jackson Blofis is to be honored forever as the mother of our greatest hero".

Zeus turned to Poseidon and looked him right in the eye. He gave a gentle smile and walked over to his brother and put his hands on Poseidon's forearms and Poseidon put his hand on Zeus' in return in a warrior's handshake.

"My brother, I honor you by way of your son. I, our king acknowledge him as Hero of our Pantheon, Savior of Olympus and out of all those present as our greatest hero. I am very proud of all of my children. And I feel that their presences here on the council are well-earned. But if Percy will have it this day, then he will join us on this Council this night".

Everyone in the hall was stunned. Not one sound was made by anyone. The other gods stood up out of their chairs, taking to their feet in honor of this declaration. All of a sudden, all those in the throne room who had been standing took a knee. Percy suddenly realized that this was all for him.

 _HAIL PERSEUS! AVE PRAETOR ET DOMINUS!_

He couldn't let this go on. He would not be pushed into this, and in truth he didn't want it. He was no better than anybody else who served on this quest; where was it written that he was any better or greater than anyone else?

Yes, he had jumped on Blackjack and flown off after Leo and Festus to do battle with Gaea and together they hoisted her ass over teakettle into the skies over Camp Half-Blood. And just like her son Antaeus, she was powerless when she was not in connection with the Earth.

When Leo and Festus were hit by the explosive onager missile sent by Octavian, it almost destroyed Gaea. And it did kill Leo, although Festus got the Physician's Cure into him.

But the missile didn't quite destroy Gaea and Percy escaped its effects altogether. Percy formed his own hurricane and suspended the stunned Primordial "Mother Earth" as well as himself at a height starting at about a thousand feet, and it just got higher and higher. Percy's hurricane looked like a force 10 at that point and it covered three states!

Percy 'steered' both himself and Gaea into each other like two knights jousting away! They slashed at each other until Percy's mount Blackjack shied away to fend off a surely fatal strike by Gaea that would have disemboweled the demigod.

It disemboweled Blackjack instead.

As Perseus' most faithful and beloved companion amongst all the Pegasi fell the thousands of feet to Earth, Percy realized he could do nothing for him. Blackjack's internal organs whipped across the sky. He was cleaved nearly in half by the strike, and had unsat Percy as well. He was dead already.

Percy was so angry at this point that his hurricane began to gather in its intensity and so did Percy. His visage took on an almost supernatural aspect as he seemed to grow and grow and GROW!

Those on the ground could see him clearly! He began to strike at Gaea with Riptide in a furious volley of slashes followed by more slashes and finally he grabbed her behind the head and shoved Riptide right up to the hilt through her abdomen. She screamed so loudly that lightning flashed. The rain poured, and almost nothing could survive the storm, it had become so bad at that point.

Percy's fury and his storm was completely off the scale in it's destructive potential and the gods had to move quickly to restrict the damage and the energies of the storm or it would swamp the entire northeastern coast of the United States and Canada. It might even raise the water levels coming on shore in Greenland 40 or 50 ft. That would wipe out a great many communities there and the gods could not allow that to happen. They had an agreement with the Norse pantheon not to permit any damage to Greenland or Iceland.

In the midst of all this Perseus began to go a little insane in his thinking. He began to force all the water that made up the Avatar of Gaea into one concentrated pocket in her midriff. His sword was still in her, and he was slowly twisting his blade, torturing her over what she'd already done to hurt Percy and those he loved.

And he was enjoying it.

He forced more and more water into that pocket until suddenly, he put it all outside her. Percy had effectively dissolved Gaia as without the water inside her the dirt she was constructed of became like dust.

The water that surrounded her did not renew her form as Percy refused to allow it to mix with the dust. Instead, he instantly froze the ball into an ice so hard and blue with cold, he almost couldn't touch it himself.

Percy had a sudden idea and he formed gloves of water around his hands from the moisture in the atmosphere around him and he used those to shield his hands from the cold of the ice. It worked and he began to slowly lessen the winds as he stood himself out over the open ocean.

He called to his father to help him and very quickly mentally explained what had happened. Gaea was imprisoned in a ball of ice so cold it froze the very molecules inside itself. Even her energies were not moving. His father said "Lower yourself down to within a hundred feet of the ocean and then stay there until I get back".

Percy did as he was told and suddenly his father flashed into position below him holding what looked like a large mirror facing upward at Percy. Poseidon called to him to drop the ball and Poseidon caught it something like a basketball going into a hoop. The ice passed through the surface of what looked like a mirror to Percy, and the surface rippled violently for a moment. And then it was all gone.

Poseidon explained that the mirror had been a gift to him from his grandfather, Ouranos. It was a weapon with which to defend his kingdom against any Titans that dared to try and take Atlantis away from the new and then very young god. It was a portal that led directly to the Great Void. And it was there that Gaea was now and would be forever. It was a one-way trip.

Percy dove down to the waters and father and son laughingly had a race to see who could reach land first. Later on, Percy remarked to his father that he wasn't sure who won; the winner or the loser! They both had to get out of the water!

Over the next few days Percy meditated on what happened, and then had a long talk with Annabeth. He eventually talked to all members of the Quest as he felt that they could best understand him. He worried that he would be offered godhood again and this time the offer would be very tempting. But he assured Annabeth he did not want to take a gift like that, not one that left her behind and he never would.

Annabeth truly appreciated that, as there were times when her dreams were so bad only Percy could calm her down. And the same was true in reverse. All the Quest Mates knew it as well. At night, when all were in bed in their own quarters aboard the Argo II, they could often hear Percy screaming…

Standing there in the throne room now, Percy knew that he could not in all good conscience take up godhood. Percy knew that he was not mentally stable enough to do so and he might be more of a threat as a god than ever he could have been as a demigod. And so it was with all this in mind that he turned to Zeus and to his father.

"I cannot be a god. I would like to speak with you both about it. Please, will you let me discuss my reasons?"

Zeus and Poseidon had a brief psychic conversation. They both took an arm and flashed out. They reappeared in a nearby garden and in about five minutes, Percy told them both everything, even sharing his memories with them both.

Both gods were stunned. They had no idea Percy could freeze water, control poisons like he did with Akhlys, create storms as he had or fly using hurricane winds. To say Zeus was disturbed was putting it mildly, but he stayed calm.

Percy had proven himself time and again. Zeus felt Percy could be trusted. He'd been honest with them and had only been concerned with disappointing the council and Zeus. He hadn't been worried about being killed by them. Or if he had it didn't bother him enough to scare him off of telling Zeus the truth.

"Nephew, I'm going to give you a chance to substitute some requests instead of offering you godhood. I can see that you really don't want it. It won't stop me from trying to convince you to take it in the future if you do something spectacular again, but out of respect for your wishes and your feelings I'm going to let you off the hook.

"But there's a price here. As you develop your powers, I expect to be kept informed. And if these dreams of yours continue to haunt you, then I want you to speak to my son, Mr. D.

"Dionysus can help you with things like this. And I will order him to do it. I know that he's very lazy about these things, but he needs to learn to be responsible if he wants more responsibilities given him. And you are too valuable to allow harm to come to you.

"Brother, why don't we go back inside and let Percy decide what he wants or needs from us?"

"An excellent idea brother. And my son, know that I love you with all my heart and that you can always come and speak with me or come and stay in Atlantis. I will build you your own palace and I will come over and stay with you when you visit. I want to encourage you to do these things as I still want you helping me in the oceans. You might not be an immortal, but you're one of the most powerful beings on this planet. And you are my son. And I trust you, and I love you".

Tears sprang to Percy's eyes when he heard these things. His father had never spoken to him quite like this and neither had his Uncle but it seemed that he had finally been accepted and was now trusted. This alone was a very great gift, all by itself.

Both gods had misunderstood the younger man. Percy wasn't so much declining godhood as he was withdrawing from The Olympian family somewhat. He knew how bad his dreams truly were. He could not have told either man how bad they were, only Annabeth really knew.

No, Percy was simply telling them that he knew that he wasn't worthy, that he knew that he was unfit and that he would just go back quietly to Camp Half-Blood and live his life as best he could until his time was over. He only wanted to be with Annabeth, his beautiful Wise Girl who knew how to keep him calm and make the nightmares go away.

He was already too far gone for them to help at that point. The trouble was that Percy didn't know that yet and so the Olympians couldn't know it either. Annabeth suspected it but wasn't sure.

But Reyna knew.

Her mother was Bellona, goddess of war and battles and a goddess of the legions. Bellona had whispered to her daughter in her dreams that Percy was suffering terribly from post-traumatic stress disorder. She told her daughter that Tartarus must have affected him terribly and to be on guard, although to see what she could do if she could help.

Bellona knew that Reyna had feelings for Percy, real feelings and so would help Reyna if only for the sake of the possibility of a romance with the son of Poseidon. He had already proven himself to be a great Roman and a Praetor worth the title.

If there was to be any chance of a union between Percy and Reyna down the line, Bellona wanted to help Reyna help Percy. And so Reyna got a crash course in battlefield mental illness and began to understand what was happening with Percy.

Over the next 6 months, Reyna spent most of her time at Camp Half-Blood, finally getting Percy and Annabeth to agree to come to Camp Jupiter for a while 'just to relax and unwind'. Percy would not go anywhere without Annabeth, and Annabeth being who she was, Reyna could not be rude and just simply exclude her.

Reyna and her mother wanted to give them both a chance to let go of their worst memories. Percy and Annabeth were both far too young to be this badly affected by mutual and psychically linked PTSD.

It didn't work.

Percy was already far too bogged down in old and very bad memories. He just could not let go of the thought that it was all his fault somehow. He was so very loyal to everyone he had ever worked with, quested with, loved, known. And all these friends of his knew that he automatically assumed responsibility for every phase of their mutual relationships, all of them and all by himself.

These were false values of course, but trying to talk Percy out of them was absolutely useless. This was his fatal flaw at its worst. It was going to take an act of God to get that done, and perhaps, just perhaps…

That was EXACTLY what was in store. And sooner than one might think.

 _AD 2037 CAMP HALF BLOOD CAMPFIRE_

"What exactly took you so far away, my little proconsul? Hmm? A solidii for your thoughts".

"Ahh, just thinking back. Perseus… I miss him, you know".

"Yes. I _do know_. You loved him once. Maybe still… a little?"

Reyna smiled. Her own mother spoke with both herself and Hylla, but usually in their dreams. Vesta was right here by the campfire, the hearth. Percy had asked her to look after Reyna as much as possible right after Reyna had expressed her feelings to Percy and just before he left their community for his new community. And Hestia/Vesta (Magna Mater-Great Mother) accepted her charge from her favorite demigod. And had Hestia told the complete truth, she'd have had to confess that she loved Perseus, indeed was IN LOVE with him also

She physically wanted him as she had never, ever wanted anyone before. Enough to do whatever he asked of her.

But it was not to be. Aphrodite had come to her just three months before Perseus left and told Hestia that Percy was leaving them. Hestia was in shock. For how long? Where was he going?

Aphrodite didn't know, but her domains left her knowing everyone else's feelings for whoever else, and she was often able to see outcomes.

Percy was nowhere to be found in anyone's outcome. Anywhere. Indeed, love and marriage was not shown to be 'in the cards' for Poseidon's greatest son.

Three months later, Percy had left and hadn't been seen within the Greek or Roman worlds since. Both women snuggled closer, both thinking warmly of a man they both loved, but could never have. He had chosen a different path, one that none of them could follow.

He had accepted Greek Orthodox Catholic baptism, and as an adult proselyte had made his first full confession, first Eucharist and was Confirmed all on the same day in this most ancient of all the Catholic Churches. It was closest to the Church in Jerusalem and therefore considered most authentic by many millions of its adherents.

Percy had put aside all of his friends and all but his most immediate family, and had left them for good.

Artemis had found him five years ago, but was smited by the great God of the Judeo-Christian faiths. She'd been stripped of her immortality and powers, been age regressed to six years old and had started school just earlier that day.

And what with all the monsters that had shown up that day, it was pretty clear that they were going to have to find her a tutor and tutor her at home or in a very restricted setting with other children with the same problem. Well, not exactly the same problem but with lots of restrictions on her ability to move around. Children needed to socialize as part of their upbringing and Artemis was no different at this point from any ordinary mortal child her age, other than her parentage.

Her mother Leto had been pissed beyond anger. She had reportedly railed at the heavens trying to assail this God with her anger and opinions over her daughter. She received no reply, she was seemingly ignored.

But when she tried to return to her island of Delos, it wasn't there anymore. Apparently, it had been hidden away from her in retaliation for her verbal attempts at castigating a Deity far greater than she was. There was no telling as to whether she'd ever be able to return to the island that she had called home for nearly 6,000 years. But everyone doubted it.

When she went to Zeus to complain and to make her case before the Council, no one could tell her anything or give her any comfort. Hera was not of a mind to help her in any way shape or form, but no one wanted any Titans (and Leto was a Titanide) to start resurrecting the Black Palace on top of Mount Othrys, even if it was only going to be used as condominiums for displaced deities.

So it was decided that she would live in her son's palace with Apollo and thus could see and raise her daughter Artemis everyday as she began to grow up all over again. As if they didn't have enough problems already.

The Council had decided after this last incident that in no way shape or form were any of them to attempt to contact this God. Not individually at any rate. No one knew what might occur if any one of them were to try and do so. The last thing that the Council needed was more formerly divine toddlers who used to be members of the Council running around in filthy nappies.

It was after much deliberation on the part of the Council that Zeus' other daughter, Thalia Grace was extended the offer of theophany. She had taken over what was left of the Hunt until all the Huntresses could be assimilated back into normal demigod society. The Hunt had fallen apart after Artemis; it was the doing of the Judeo-Christian God, no doubt. The former Huntresses gradually forgot the Hunt and Artemis as a goddess. So did all the other non-Olympians. Even Chiron had no memory of the Huntress. The Moon goddess? Wasn't that Selene?

But when the Council had agreed and begun to attempt to start the process of making Thalia a goddess, IT HAPPENED.

AND THAT WAS WHEN EVERYTHING HAD CHANGED FOREVER.

…. _One Year Later…_

Zeus entered the quiet nursery, wanting merely to kiss his little girl good night. He gazed down at her serenely sleeping form; she drooled a little.

"She's been really good today. She's so bright! She can put the colored blocks into the correct holes on the board and she tries to sing along with her favorite television characters on that show she likes."

Zeus looked over at his oldest sister, Hestia. She was an excellent mother to Artemis and now Thalia. A 'mother'. _Hmmpphh!_

 _Thalia_

They should never have tried to defy the intent to do away with Artemis' position on the Council by the great "I AM". By attempting to make Thalia a goddess and the new goddess of the Hunt and the Moon the Olympian Council had tempted fate just once too often. Would she grow up to even be, once again a demigoddess?

Word was getting back to Olympus that even some of the Legacies were no longer able to use any of their inherited capabilities, and most of them are all down to barely normal mortal strength.

The Twelfth Legion Fulminata was down to one cohort; Just ONE COHORT! Zeus shuddered to think of what would happen should a well-formed company of monsters or still-enemy demigods "visit" the city and do battle with the now disabled Legion.

Zeus shook his head as Hestia continued telling him of his once-adult daughter's achievement in holding up her own bottle and in speaking her "first words".

What would come next? Regressing a god or goddess to a point before their own birth?

Suddenly, a distinct shiver went up Zeus' spine. That in itself was truly significant as he had NEVER, EVER felt one. And a very quiet laugh occurred almost as if from somewhere in back of himself. He began to gather power for a lightning blast when all that power just… wasn't there anymore?

That laugh grew louder and the laughing voice said, "Beyond the beginning of their lives, hmmm? From YOUR mouth to MY EARS!"

Zeus knew right then and there that he'd made a huge mistake. He'd opened his blasted yap just once too often. The old Biblical story of how "I AM" took the final plague upon Egypt from the words of the Egyptian Pharoah himself. He'd been been a bigmouth, too.

His eyes closed slowly as the laughter continued unabated. The baby girl never stirred.


	7. Chapter 7

Ok! Percy Jackson and company belong to Rick Riordan. The plot belongs to me! Me! ME!

St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Lorain Cty, Ohio is real. Sorry guys, but yer famous now!

By the way, the story about drinking olive oil to ward off the effects of alcohol by partisans in Eastern Europe is true. My late Uncle Al told me about his life in Lithuania and how he spent World War 2 fighting off both the Red Army as well as the 3rd Reich's forces. May God bless all those who perished fighting for The Right, especially those who, within their own homelands showed extraordinary courage in that they all refused to knuckle down and bend the knee to two of the worst tyrants in human history, Hitler and Stalin.

May we NEVER forget any one of them. Amen

One quick note; I am NOT preaching a Faith here. I am NOT proselytizing either for or against Christianity, or any one of it's multitude of communions. This is more about Percy's affinity for the Hellenic culture, it's history and the evolution of the Christian Faith and it's possible meaning for a young man forced to be a warrior, but who only begs for peace.

Chapter 7

 _In a limousine cruising thru Athens..._

 _SMACK! "_ LORD TRITON! WHAT THE HADES DO YOU THINK _YOU THINK_ YOU'RE TRYING HERE?!"

The Messenger god of the Seas was holding the right side of his head. This woman had a helluva left hook!

"I-I-I was just trying to put on your safety belt, Annabeth!" The Merman god's skull _HURT!_

"Oh? Is that all?"

 _WHACK!_

 _(Ohhh shit! One more time!)_

 _"WITH YOUR MEATHOOKS UNDER MY SKIRT? I DIDN'T BUY THIS OUTFIT SO YOU COULD TAKE IT OFF!"_

Triton sat back in amazement! Annabeth had consumed half the bottle of champagne; how was it she wasn't drunk? What the by now thoroughly stunned deity did NOT know was that Annabeth had drunk something prior to landing: A half-pint of olive oil.

Back in World War 2, Eastern European partisans fighting either Soviet troops and/or Nazi troops (sometimes both) would frequently pay for copious amounts of alcohol which their targets would then consume at local bars. The partiszanis would also drink a fair amount of olive oil first, which admittedly did take some getting used to.

The oil left them able to go shot for shot, but they remained much more sober and for much longer than their hapless targets. The stuporous "other guys" always gave up loads of gossip and sometimes actual valuable Intel which the native freedom fighters used against them, often BOTH Nazis and the Soviets. That way, the locals disposed of lots of BOTH of them, and all of the invaders were less able to exert their force against the captive populations.

The olive oil took a look time to digest, as it was very thick and viscous. The alcohol… mmm, not so much. But! The olive oil got through the digestive tract first, and the alcohol took a long time to "burn through".

Annabeth had been getting careless on the aircraft with all the champagne she'd consumed, and so she asked for the pint of oil. Just on the principle of "Constant Vigilance". She really loved that story, and particularly that character. Too bad magicals like them were just a story. How cool would that be?

"Look, _my loooord, I love, LOVE your brother_. And I will not betray him by engaging in drunkenly stuporous sex with you, or with anyone for that matter! I mean what the hell! You're like, my adoptive grandfather here! First on the plane across to Europe I hadda contend with "The Wingmen". And now it's you?!"

"You… you " _love" my brother?"_ He said with a sneer; "If, as you claim you " _love"_ my brother then _WHY HAVE YOU LEFT HIM?!"_

Back on Olympus, they were falling around on the floor at Triton's predicament. A lotta gold was changing hands, and Hestia was busy smiling at Annabeth's strength. And so was Artemis as well as Aphrodite. Thalia was hooting up a storm and the Hunters were laughing their bits off. Ares, Dionysus and Zeus had lost a boatload of gold here, Poseidon being the big winner. And Athena, confused at her daughter's resolve concerning her love, was very proud of her most favored daughter.

That Hephaestus TV, boy!

 _While Back in the Limo..._

Annabeth bowed her head and her facial expression deepened to a truly sorrowful one. She regarded the by-now exposed pervert god sadly.

"He has nightmares, you know? Every night. And when he sleeps alone he always wakes up screaming".

Annabeth sighed and sat back into the seat. She looked back at Triton and continued, "And so do I. Look, I didn't _want_ to leave; I _HAD_ to leave! Even your father agreed. Ask him! Percy wasn't getting better staying with me. He was getting completely dependent on my being there. He's at the point where he can't even sleep unless I'm there in bed with him. Even Chiron stopped trying to keep us apart at night and you know how straight-laced he is!"

Triton sat back and considered her words. He looked at her sidelong and asked, "So why did you leave him? What could have been your motivation for abandoning him?"

"Because his deepening crisis was pulling me in even deeper. Tartarus really did a bad number on us both. His post traumatic stress syndrome is the worst that even Dionysus has ever seen and he has to deal with his psychopathic brother Ares every day!"

Back on Olympus, even the Wingmen were rolling around at that crack at Ares. Everybody BUT the by-now very irritated war God was in hysterics!

 _Back in Athens..._

The by now distraught young woman had started shedding tears freely. This entire situation was kiling her; she was actually fearful for Percy's sake. His fragile psyche might not survive their forced separation. Hers wouldn't, couldn't survive staying with him.

"Hestia, Hera, my mother, Percy's own mother Sally and your own father sat with Dionysus at camp for nearly seven hours one day trying to figure out what to do for us. Percy and I shared a very tenuous psychic bond when we slept together. It's thought that my proximity made him feel reassured that I was 'all right', so he wouldn't wake up in a blind panic that he had to get to me or kill someone if he thought they were stopping us somehow. He nearly killed my brother one night. And even Dionysus' best attempts to ease Percy out of his near-fugue state via the psycho-traditional therapeutic approach hasn't worked.

Your dad has bound Percy's powers over the domains he'd given him so he wouldn't damage anything just in case things didn't go so well".

She looked up at Triton this time, right in his eyes and said, "Percy is so very powerful that many lesser gods are actually afraid of him. Ares tried sparring with him after this last war and Percy knocked him out cold! Didn't even use Riptide! Did you know about that?"

Triton just sat there with an uncomprehending look on his face. He was stunned. Percy, his mortal brother defeated, _beat, VANQUISHED ARES?! AGAIN!?_

 _HOW?_

Good GODS! It was almost as if the world just lurched under his feet! He looked searchingly at Annabeth, his face screwed up while trying to formulate the right question;

"Whaaa…?"

Annabeth just looked at him and tapped the privacy screen. Karkarsh rolled down the barrier and Annabeth just asked him to get it in gear and take her wherever she was supposedly going. She just wanted nothing so much as a long hot bath and a good nap.

Maybe she'd sleep peacefully?

Triton just sat in shock until they arrived. He then headed right for the house's bar and he sat drinking slowly but steadily until Annabeth woke up about 10pm.

She'd slept okay. For once.

 _Dinner at the Blofis'..._

 _"_ Father! Thank you for coming so quickly! You got here so quickly!"

"Sally! It's so good to see you again! Yes, the trip was quick and very comfortable! Thanks for calling that car service, 'Uber' was it? The drive was very nice and we had a great chat on the way in. _Mmmmm!_ That's dinner?"

The aroma of pot roast with all the trimmings pervaded the warm, well lit apartment.

The priest was in his trademark black cassock, kamilavka (hat) and pectoral cross. He looked like he was still "on duty" and that fact was noticed first by Sally and her reaction was then picked up on by the priest. Stavros, or Papas Stavriou to his flock, was a pretty traditional priest. He always dressed traditionally. His clerical dress was distinctive, but what really stuck out was "Great hat!"

The priest and and Percy's mother both turned to the originator of that voice.

"Hi! I'm Percy! I'm sorry Mom, I had no idea we were having company".

His mother turned and smiled. How Percy loved her smile. It was so full of love, and he always felt safe whenever Sally was near.

"Yes! I'm sorry I didn't mention it before, but I invited Papas Stavrious here to join us. He's a very old friend of mine from when I was a young woman growing up in Ohio. The Father here was the local Greek parish priest in my aunt's church and he and I had good conversations".

Papas Stavrious held out his hand to shake Percy's and he said, "Your mother is clear sighted and I am a son of Apollo. And the last time I saw you was back when you were still in your stroller in Astoria! Your mama was shopping and we met by accident. Has she ever told you of this, Percy?"

Percy was silently evaluating this man. He'd never knowingly met this… priest?... but the man was actually seemingly familiar to the demigod. And he was also a demigod? A son of Apollo?

"No, mom never did. But I'd like to hear about it."

They'd all moved into the living room, and Paul came outside. "Hi! Your Father Stavrious, right? I'm Paul Blofis, Father and welcome to our home."

Paul's hand was out instantly, his smile genuine and wide-open friendly. The priest took a gut-feeling liking to this man.

This was a home with love suffusing it. Sally was healthy and smiling, although worried for this son of hers. Her husband's handshake and smile were hearty and immediate, fullsome and genuine.

Papas Stavrious relaxed and everyone sat down on a couch or chair in the open and comfortable living room. The apartment was huge! It was amazing that the family's circumstances were such that a multi-million dollar apartment in a skyscraper luxury Upper East Side apartment building was all theirs.

And Sally obviously still did her own cooking, thank God! He well remembered her roast beef from back in Ohio; it had won prizes at the County Fair cook-offs, and Sally's Chili con carne was just heavenly! And then there was her baking… cakes, pies, COOKIES! The stuff of LEGENDS!

"Sally, can I ask if you are still baking those delicious cookies of yours?"

Sally was surprised at the question; Papas remembered THAT? He remembered her cookies? Percy and Paul just grinned from ear to ear. And Stavrious saw the grins, and they caused him to smile as well.

"Percy, Paul, Sally was a champion chef back in Lorain County when she was just fourteen! She had everybody literally 'eating out of her hand'. Percy, your mother was sponsored by our church, St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. She won some nice prizes and your mother very generously donated half of her share back to our church, on top of our share for sponsoring her. We really needed a new roof and air conditioning, and your mama gave us a nice chunk of money that helped us a great deal in this. I've ever been very grateful to Sally for her incredible generosity".

Paul smiled at this revelation. "That's my wife," he said softly, smiling as he praised her. He was sitting on her right hand side, while Percy sat on her left. Paul's large hands sought out Sally's smaller ones and they smiled at each other as their hands joined lovingly.

Papas Stavrious smiled and remembered; he had so many wonderful memories of this lovely woman. He made up his mind to help this family, no matter their religious choices. He could do no less.

Sally's thinking right then was along just that line. But she got creative and decided to "make an end run" around Percy here.

"Papa, I asked you here for help in something, although having dinner and seeing you again is a big plus. I wondered if you could help me in joining the Church; could you please help me arrange for instruction for myself as a _Catechisto_ s?"

Stavrious was dumbstruck! The BOTH of them? God was truly good! To bring this wonderful woman into Mother Church would be a great thing! AND her son as well?!…

"Of COURSE, Sally! I'd be honored! And I teach such a class at our Cathedral in Astoria once a week on Thursday nights. A new class is starting shortly and I will enroll you immediately!"

"So, Mom? You got religion all of a sudden?"

"Well Percy, I've sort of been affiliated with the Church all my life. And you remember we prayed "Grace" before meals and all, and didn't we say prayers before bed when you were still so young?"

Percy screwed up his face for a few seconds and then smiled; "Oh yeahhh, I remember now! 'Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep'; we used to pray that together every night when I was little!"

Sally smiled and asked, "Do you remember the other one? The one your aunt taught me, that I taught to you?"

Percy sat back for a moment, his face screwed up in memories. It had been years, but…

"Lord, Jesus Christ, You received the children who came to You. Receive also from Your child this evening prayer. Shelter me under the protection of Your wings that I may lie down in peace and sleep. Awaken me in due time that I may glorify You, for You alone are good and love all people.

Into Your hands, O Lord Jesus Christ, I commend my spirit and body; bless me, save me, and grant me eternal life.

The Father is my hope, the Son is my refuge, the Holy Spirit is my shelter. Holy Trinity, glory to You. Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me."

Sally smiled broadly at her son; Percy had a wonderful mind, and he smiled back at her. Papas Stavrious sat there taking in this warm and wonderful interplay between mother and son. They were so loving and easily comfortable together. It warmed the priest's heart and he was filled with hope that Percy would rise to the challenge of learning a new way, the Right Way.

"I can say it in Greek also, Father! I bet you didn't know I could speak the language that well, did you?"

This surprised Stavrious greatly. Seeing a chance to build a bridge with Percy, he launched into his own mother tongue.

{"*No! I didn't know this, Perseus! Your mother hasn't told me this yet, but if you can reply to me in Hellene, I would very much like to speak with you! I was raised in Greece, in a small village some miles distant from the original Mt Olympus. My brother and I emigrated here when we were old enough to travel on our own to this wonderful country. I attended my religious school here, in upstate Roscoe. My brother was killed there in a monster attack. I know some things about you as your wonderful mother has told me about you, and also about your brother Tyson. Is he here right now? I'd very much like to meet him*"}.

Percy had tilted his head at a slight angle, as if to hear the priest a little better, although he heard him perfectly well. It just took a second for it all to make sense, as Percy was seriously out of practice. But he made do just fine, responding respectfully as he'd been taught to do as a small child. His mother had taken him to a Greek Orthodox church in Manhattan, near where they'd lived around the time Sally had married Gabe Ugliano.

Percy had been fascinated and delighted by the sense of peace and sanctity, not to mention the singing and chanting in old Greek, called 'Koine'. It was a form of the language spoken commonly in the Middle East around the time of Alexander of Macedon and his conquests.

Koine Greek served as a lingua franca or common tongue in the Eastern Roman Empire and most 'educated Romans' learned to speak it well. Latin was also spoken, but Koine Greek was already well established as an accepted "all-purpose language" by pretty much anyone who had learned to read and write in that part of the world in those days.

And there were never _ever_ any monsters in aà church.

{"*He's asleep, and has been napping for a few hours. I will go get him. I think he'd like to meet you. But Father, you _DO_ know he's a Cyclope don't you?*"}

The priest smiled; {*"Yes, I was told by your mother before I came over. And did you know I am a son of Apollo?*"}

Percy smiled softly. His godly cousin held a good place in his heart. His haikus sucked, but his singing… Percy loved his music.

{*"Yes, my mother did tell me. If you are soft and easy with him, he'll warm up to you quickly*"}.

Percy went down the hall and entered his and Tyson's shared bedroom. It was a large, spacious room with an en suite bathroom that had both a very large shower with a "rainfall" style shower setup (from all angles) and a huge custom-built tub big enough for a young Cyclope wanting to just relax and kick back in the warm water and Jacuzzi style water jets.

In short, it was a small pool.

"Hey, big guy! We have company!"

Tyson stirred and looked up through heavily lidded eyes at his brother, who he loved so very much.

"Really, Big Brother? Company? Who is it?"

Percy smiled and gave Tyson a hug.

"C'mon, get up lazybones! Mama's friend is here. Do you remember what she told you about him? That he's a priest?"

Tyson, still a bit sleepy and looking appropriately muzzily up at his "big brother", did recall what his 'new' and for real Mama had told him.

"Yes; and Mama and Papa said to be extra 'special polite to him. He's like a holy man and he's nice, and his name is 'Papa Stavrious'. That's what Mama said. I remember. Is all that right, Percy?"

Percy smiled and couldn't help himself. He leaned down and cuddled the huge boy. He loved Tyson so very much! What an absolute gift his younger brother was.

"Yep! You got it all right, all right! Mom is gonna be proud of you!"

Tyson smiled as he got up out of his bed; the brand new 15 inch thick pillow top was the single most comfortable thing he'd ever slept on. And as thick as it was, it supported him well. Paul had picked it out. It was a special extra long mattress in Queen size, and it was 90 inches in length. It had been a special order and the Blofis' had needed to search for it. But they'd found it and had told Tyson all about the process.

Tyson smiled thinking about it all. It made him feel so very loved here. And while he really loved his daddy Poseidon, he secretly wanted to stay right here forever. Tyson felt warm, comfortable, wanted and safe.

And loved, he knew he was loved here. He didn't feel really loved anywhere else, not like his Big Brother and his new Mama and Papa made him feel.

And now he was going to meet his new Mama's friend! She WANTED Tyson to meet her friend! He was happy at that, so he got up, splashed some water on his face and combed his thick and wavy brown hair. He wanted to look good for his family's company, especially for his Mama.

The two young men went into the living room and the three adults turned their heads as one to the two young men who had just entered.

"Father, this is my brother Tyson. Tyson, this is Papa Stavrious. He's Mom's friend from when she was very young and lived in Ohio. Father, this is my brother, Tyson".

The Priest got up from his seat on the very comfortable sofa and extended his hand to Tyson. Tyson looked surprised but took the man's hand and shook it gently.

"Hello sir, my name is Tyson and I am very happy to meet you".

The son of Apollo returned Tyson's somewhat tentative smile and handshake with a broad smile and a manly grip of his own.

"Hello Tyson! I've been looking forward to meeting you! Do you speak Greek like Percy here?"

"{*Yes sir, I do. My daddy always talks with me in the old tongue, as he calls it. I'm happy that you speak it also!*}".

The older Priest smiled broadly. They all had so much in common! This would be a good first meeting. The men could listen as he counseled Sally in her first steps into Mother Church.

He went on ahead; "{*I'm here tonight because your wonderful Mama here asked me to have dinner with you. That and she would like to talk to me about coming to my church. I was her aunt and uncle's local church priest back in Ohio, maybe twenty years ago. So we have known each other as friends for a long time now. I would like to encourage you all to ask me any questions about my Church, my Faith at all. Anything that you'd like to know, please do ask. Is that okay by you, Tyson? Percy?*}"

Both young men looked at each other and then turned back to their elders; "Yes, sure. We'll do that".

Percy spoke for them both in English. Then he turned to his stepfather and filled Paul in on what was said. Paul could speak a little Greek, but nowhere nearly as fluently as the other three.

Plus theirs was an older dialect. They spoke in older Koine Greek, similar to Attic and very much unlike modern Greek. This was due to their godly heritage, although the priest spoke both due to his upbringing.

Sally smiled and then said, "Well! I think it's time for dinner. Let's go guys; Percy, Tyson? Are your hands washed?"

The two looked at their mother and said, "Yes Mom. All washed up".

Smiling, Sally led her family to dinner.

 _Two Hours and Seven Courses Later…_

"Percy, that is hysterical! Zeus had cookie crumbs in his beard and a milk mustache?! Ohhh, what I'd give to have seen that! And Hera wiping him up like a little kid!"

A peal of thunder rolled down the sky outside. It kind of hitched and stuttered, and sounded almost like laughter...

"Mom! Ya know what this means, right?"

Sally looked up from her sip of coffee with the question in her eyes.

Percy answered; "You gotta make more cookies for Uncle Zeus! That was him laughing at my story!"

Stavros looked over pensively at Percy. "Do you mean he's actually listening in on our conversation right now, Percy?"

Percy looked thoughtfully over at the middle-aged priest and said, "Well, not _all_ the time. But when he hears his name… he pays attention that way. Sometimes I have to remember to take care in what I say, and who I'm speaking about".

Paul, who'd been quiet for most of the meal except for some small talk broke in at this point. "We often speak in a kind of code. We know who we're speaking about. We pantomime and use euphemisms, as well as similes regarding 'them folk'. As long as we stay away from proper names, it doesn't seem to be a problem".

Papa Stavrious looked up and nodded at them. "I can well understand. I come from a very similar background, and I spent four, almost five years at the Camp. Even after I entered the Seminary, I was still cautious. I was even warned not to use names, as it sort of invokes "demonic influences", as it was put to me. It was our school's Rector who told me to take special care after I told him the truth about myself".

Percy seemed curious. How had this simple priest managed to keep the Olympian Pantheon away from him? He wanted to understand better. Just how powerful was the priest?

"Papa Stavrious, could you please tell me what power you have that keeps your father Apollo away, for instance? And does it work with all of the 'Upstairs Neighbors'?"

Stavrious smiled. Tyson nodded his head as if agreeing that he'd also like to know. Sally and Paul were also interested, although Sally had a vague idea as to the answer.

"I like that; 'Upstairs Neighbors'. Good one! Well. To answer your question Percy and Tyson, I have no "powers" whatsoever. None. At… ALL".

Even Paul frowned at that. Nothing? Did that mean that all the gods could see and hear Priests all the time?

"But Father," asked Tyson; "Isn't that.. well, kind of dangerous for you?"

The priest looked over and said simply, "No".

Now EVERYONE was looking at him. You could have heard a sliver of baklava falling!

"Okay, here's how this works. I was consecrated as a priest. That means that I was specially blessed, blessed in a very formal ceremony when I was made a priest. A bishop consecrated my hands and my head and my lips and my eyes and my heart so that I would always eat, breathe, sleep and my heart will always beat for God. My hands are specially %%consecrated so I may consecrate the sacred elements of the _Eucharistos,_ the bread and wine that represents the Last Supper that The Son spent with his Apostles.

"Do you have any questions right now for me?"

Tyson raised his hand like a very large child in a schoolroom.

"Yes, Father. How is it that the Pantheon doesn't attack you or any other priests? It's very mysterious to me!"

Father Stavros looked at Percy and then Tyson. He sighed, for he absolutely knew, he _KNEW_ that someone was about to be left behind.

Tyson was a Cyclope, a general of the Olympian Armies. And Tyson… Didn't have a soul. Not like the others

Ohh, he had an 'anima', a created _spirit_ of sorts. But he had no Immortal Soul. That was within the province of human beings ONLY. Stavros knew that for a fact. And his Faith was explicit on this very subject. Only those created through the act of human genesis in the line of Adam and Eve, and that by the command of Almighty God could be granted a soul.

And that left out beings such as many merfolk of the lower evolutionary orders (SharkMen and such), satyrs, nymphs, sprites, monsters (ALL Monsters), and Cyclopes. The "higher levels" of merfolk such as your average Atlantean in particular were actually of actual human descendancy. Poseidon had altered their physiology to keep their race from drowning altogether when he and Zeus destroyed the city and sank the huge island it sat on to keep the Earth from destruction by the ancient Atlanteans' ruling caste. Those ones had been killed.

Gods such as Poseidon, Zeus and the rest of all their kin were "Celestial Beings", and as such quite literally transcended mortality; they were almost completely immortal so long as they decided to continue to exist. But all the gods had a definite _beginning…_ they all had a beginning, so they would all, ALL have an _END._

And their children had all been gifted with a true human soul, an Animus and all their very own souls, not communally shared such as with dogs and cats… and Cyclopes. This was due to their mortal parent

And Papa knew this. He was going to have to explain this, along with so much more. There were days that he was grateful for his sire, Apollo. But never enough to call upon him for help. To do so would be to reject his adopted Faith, his Father in Heaven and that… THAT was completely unacceptable. He was on his own in this.

Papa Stavrious had found true immortality. He would need to die as a human being in order for his soul to achieve Immortality through being perfected by God, by the Father in Heaven. But in living his life, Stavros _knew_ that he would live forever in utter bliss. And he wouldn't have to live and die and live again in order to achieve Elysium three times and only then in order to be placed among those who enjoyed their eternity in the Isles of the Blest. That was the closest thing the Greeks had to such complete perfection as was already attainable by accepting Baptism and the Sacraments as visible Acts of Faith in God and in His Word; the LOGOS.

He would try to explain all this now, as best as he could.

"What if I told you both that there was a way for Percy to end his suffering and to begin his life, in a fashion, all over again? No more monsters, no more temperamental "gods and goddesses", no more of ANY of that! And this way is right… THERE… ", and Stavrious pointed a slender but strong finger right at Percy's heart… "and ripe for the asking! And all you need to do is to listen to what I am already teaching your mom, and when I am done teaching you, all you need to do IF!... IF!... you believe in what I have taught is permit me to Baptize you in water and in the Holy Spirit. What do you think of that, Percy? No more pain from the antics of the 'upstairs neighbors' anymore. No more doubt or ancient feuds, wondering who you've insulted or not sacrificed properly to or running for your LIFE"!

Papa said this last louder so as to emphasize the point he was trying to make. The resulting silence was thick enough to cut it with a knife… Percy looked at Tyson and Tyson looked at Percy. They both looked at their mother and they all looked at Paul, at their dad.

Then they all looked at Papa Stavroius.

Percy smiled at the older priest and said, "Ok Father. We're all down for this. If it will help me get past my problems…"

The older priest felt an enormous sense of _holiness_ wash over him. He sensed the presence of… _something…_ relaxing and strengthening him. He knew, absolutely _KNEW_ that he had been given this incredible thing to do, to teach and baptize this entire family.

And maybe… just " _maybe even this young and very good-hearted Cyclope? Could there be hope for him too? Father, I beg You to guide me in this great undertaking."_

As soon as that thought made it into his psyche, his consciousness, Stavros _KNEW_ that it was right. The incredible feeling of strength and purpose he had just been blest with told him that Tyson was "not out-of-bounds". But much depended on Tyson.

"Well, why don't I start here and now, and tell you all about our Faith and how the Church came to be, two thousand years ago? And while I'm at it, why don't I tell you a story about three pagan 'gods' who thought they could threaten these early Christian evengelists who 'offended' these pagan beings by teaching our Faith to Greeks who wanted to learn about the "Better Way"? Believe me, you'll understand the ending of THIS story!"

And so it began.

 _Time Skip: 2030;_ _Olympus, The Central Hearth of Hestia (from ch 2), the events of one month later..._

And Hestia remembered it all _..._

… _"What point did it serve, my helping Olympus and protecting it when Olympus won't protect me now that I need it"?_

 _And Athena just shrugged and turned away from Percy. Hestia thought that made up Percy's mind for him. She remembered he had come up to Olympus a few days later and looked around for her at her hearth. When he came in he didn't see her right away, so he just sat and waited. And finally he called for her by name, and so she came to him and sat next to him. She wasn't sure what to expect._

Percy had come to talk with his Aunt. He'd come to a decision and this was something he wanted, needed to share with the one goddess who'd actually stood by his side through his anguish and troubles. She had come to love this amazing young man, first as a nephew and now? Something… more.

But his heart was still connected to Annabeth Chase, even though she had left Percy. She had never considered 'making a play' for Percy; as handsome as he was with the physique of a well-muscled athlete, his body hardened by years of heavy training and combat; she would still NEVER make the first move.

Hestia had perfect recall; she could still remember the events of that fateful afternoon as if it were yesterday. She couldn't have believed it, but even _her_ heart was broken by what Percy said next.

"Auntie, I wanted to be the one to tell you something, something big, something… _amazing!_ I don't want you hear about this second or third hand or even in Council.

"I owe you just so very much. You've always been here for me; you've been my strong shoulder and always gave me your ear despite your responsibilities and domain to take care of.

"Thank you for that. You are truly my family. And that's what makes this hurt all the more…"

Hestia's heart took a lurch. Where was Percy going with this? What was this all about?

"Percy, does your father know about this… _whatever_ it is? I so hope you aren't planning to harm yourself?!"

" _NONONO! NEVER THAT! NEVER! I PROMISE YOU!_ "

Hestia let out a long, deep breath and gave a sigh, her small right hand placed across her childish breast. She suddenly took her form as an adult woman with her age about in her late twenties. If he was stressing their family relationship as aunt and nephew, she decided to give herself a few years on him so she would seem to be a bit more authoritative in her demeanor.

Percy kept on with what he'd come to say.

"I've been talking to an Orthodox Catholic Priest for a few weeks. He's known my Mom since she was a young girl living with her aunt and uncle back in Ohio"...

Percy told Hestia the story, told her of the message of love, peace, living his own life in a Real Faith based system that worshipped just one God; the Creator of EVERYTHING.

Hestia knew of this Faith. She'd always paid attention to what went on in the world, and she knew of the Faith at it's start. She knew that when the Hellenic Assyrian kings had corrupted this God's temple in Jerusalem, He had wreaked vengeance upon them with a string of military defeats using the family of the Maccabees to lead Israel in revolt while the Assyrians had to contend with several other enemies in battle.

Hestia knew how furious "He Whose Name is I AM" had been when the statues of Zeus and Apollo and all the others had been placed in the Jewish Holy of Holies. Chaos herself had called upon Hestia to communicate this to the pagan king, one named Antiochus IV Epiphanes and tell him that he needed to call off this "Hellenization" of Jerusalem and remove the gross insults to "I AM".

Hestia attempted this through dreams given to the man. Epiphanes, never the sharpest tool in the box took the dreams to be a challenge to further Hellenize all Israel and Judea. He would show this God just "who was who"!

Yeahhhh, he showed God alright.

The Parthian Empire invaded his kingdom from the north and west, taking Armenia away and necessitating the king split his forces, and his kingdom as well. He did get Armenia back and reunited both halves of his kingdom, but he lived to hear his own name made a thing of ridicule and he died of an ignominious illness, possibly a "social disease".

"I AM" made a new covenant with His people and as a sign caused a small jar of holy oil found in the Temple storage rooms that was meant to burn for one day to burn for 8 days! The people of Israel called this "Chanukkah", the Festival of Light.

True, they still fell away. God truly wasn't easy to follow; all those Mosaic Laws and such. Christ had made it much easier.

Love. That was the answer.

He taught that the Heavenly Father truly did love us all. And if we loved and trusted Him in return, then all was well. It was the path to "salvation", the path to peace.

Percy did his level best to "explain" all this to Hestia. But she knew it already. She hadn't been born yesterday. She remembered when all of a sudden the Greek gods could no longer get into either Israel or Judea. All their followers among the ethnic Jewish folk (and there were many) were declared "off-limits" to the Olympians and they could no longer answer any prayers, even those directed to them.

Lady Chaos had explained to Hestia that "I AM is 'paving a path' for "Him Who Is Yet To Come". And when 'He' did come, the world would change irrevocably.

And it most surely did.

Hestia tried explaining all this to her youngest brother, to the Council, but to no avail. They were all too thickheaded to understand the importance of all this, and the Council had finally decided to just let their few thousand Hellenized Jewish followers slide away. Yahweh had always "interfered" in their lives at various times anyway, so why put up a fuss?

In the end, these events spelled an enormous lessening in the importance and suzereinty of the Greek gods. First the Romans forced changes on them that very nearly crippled them and almost lost them all of Greece, and then this newest appearance of Yahweh in the Middle East stripped away the Jewish peoples, many of whom had willingly converted to the Greek way of life.

The Oracles had made various prophecies about "days of change' and the "fall of Pan-Hellenic civilization" as it was set up by Alexander of Macedon. No one had ever really listened.

All she could do was just sigh; they were losing Perseus, the greatest and most powerful demigod ever to live. She was at her wits end. What the hell should she do now?

The one man in all the world she felt safe in giving herself to in love and in marriage had decided to lock himself away from his own godly family, to deny his actual origins and his pagan heritage. And he was going to embrace the one Deity in all the universe… or beyond it… who could actually keep the gods away and quite effectively.

She had to speak with Sally. Someone had to stop him. Someone had to try!


	8. Chapter 8

Here we aaarree! A new chapter, a new day! We find ourselves in the future today; Percy had been ordained a priest and taken leadership of his small community at Mt Athos. No longer a Deacon, but a fully ordained Priest of the Eastern Orthodox Church, he is now in charge of his order's community, the Monastery of St Nestorius (fictional). The Catholic Eastern Orthodox Church of Greece is a national church, kind of like the Episcopal Church, aka: Church of England for example. The Orthodox Church of Constantinople is of the same communion as the Greek Church; it is just that it has a different presiding Bishop. The monasteries on Mt Athos come under the geographic authority of the Church of Constantinople, and under the administration of His Most Divine All-Holiness the Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church. And this despite the country of origin of each of the various monasteries.

Geographically, Mt Athos is a peninsula in the remote northeast of Greece, it is a politically independent community of physically and administratively unconnected monasteries. And all come under the direct authority of the Eastern Orthodox Archbishop of the capital city of modern day Turkey.

The Archbishop is not considered as if a "Pope", but as THE First Among Equals as regards the Eastern Orthodox Bishops at the head of their national churches, such as the Orthodox Church of Greece, the Orthodox Churches of Romania, Bulgaria, the United States and so many others.

And when any Ecumenical discussions with any of the other "Catholic" churches takes place such as Rome, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Malabar, or wherever, it's the Archbishop of Constantinople who represents the Eastern Othodox Rite Churches. And his All Holiness is The Boss over all the various monasteries on that peninsula, even though many are of differing nationalities. They are all of the Eastern Orthodox Community.

We're picking up in the year 2063; far away in the future. Percy had undergone many changes and seen many amazing things. He has become trusted by the other national churches' monasteries and the communities of all male religious living there. As we join him, he is reflecting on his past, and all the massive changes he has undergone, having seen and experienced so very much.

 _Monastery of St Nestorius, Mt Athos, Greece_

 _September 12, 2063_

Papas Perseus, ordained Priest and Archimandrite of the monastery of St Nestorius sat on the edge of the low stone wall that separated the footpath along the cliffside of the monastery from the sheer 750 foot drop straight down to the Aegean Sea by the Cape of St Theodoric.

It was the northwest side of the peninsula, an autonomously governed region of Greece, and recognized as independent by the European Union in the "old days", and now by the European Federated States. Europe had formed one nation finally, with the exception of the United Kingdom. That now very divided political commune of four kingdoms had gone it's own way back in 2020. The British Monarch no longer ruled either Wales or the province of Northern Ireland. OR Scotland or Cornwall, either.

Northern Ireland had become the Irish province of Ulster once again during "The Great Divisions", during which the Republic of Ireland re-absorbed the wayward province of Ulster while Wales and Cornwall went their own way together as the reconstituted Kingdoms of Wales and Cornwall. Both had its own Parliament and ruling Princes, but was not affiliated politically or royally with either Scotland or England.

After Elizabeth II had passed in 2025 at the ripe old age of 99, Prince Charles hadn't been able to keep the United Kingdom together. He just wasn't well trusted after Diana's death, and Scotland decided just a month after the state funeral to leave the UK, quickly followed by Wales and Cornwall.

Civil War was only barely averted; Percy well remembered spending much time on his knees along with his congregation in Queens, praying constantly for peace. The big issue was the nuclear weapons that the UK had then possessed. The new US President led a coalition of both NATO and other European Nations and the then-EU armed forces into some very intense negotiations for possession of all the devices, and helped incredibly with the sudden breakup of Europe's formerly most stable and honored monarchy.

King Charles III hadn't been too keen on the deal, but he was informed by his own military staff that if he didn't knuckle under and go with this "deal", then the other NATO and combined United Nations forces would see to it that he DID. Likewise, the Prime Minister and the cabinet was informed by their European mainland counterparts that the "British Lion" was to be "defanged and declawed" in terms of nuclear weapons, or at least until their situation had stabilized.

The United States Navy sent a task force leavened with ships from the entire EU… but not from Germany. It wasn't discussed by any of the nations. It just wasn't done. Some memories were just too...

And they took on board all British nuclear munitions, to be stored in an unnamed place. Or places?

Yep; Europe had changed!

 _St Nestorius Monastery, overlooking the Aegean..._

Percy sipped a cup of tea from his thermos bottle, a gift from his "little sister" Estelle back in the US, and he passed it over to his companion, an extremely old monk. Unbelievably old, in fact.

Estelle always sent him things; thick socks, underwear (ahh, luxury!), a stout Swiss Army pocket knife, and so many other things all of which Percy shared. He was particularly grateful for the vid-scanner. It was a new invention, a really high-end combination computer and tv, capable of picking up a satellite signal anywhere in the world, and all in 10g hi-def plus! No more Internet subscriptions! Not only that, but it also did all kinds of writing, telephonics and such. They were as small as an Android cellphone used to be (dinosaur!) and could do far, far more. They also projected a holo-vid 36 inch picture above the unit in 3 dimensions and in hi-definition, plus made perfect recordings replayable in the same format.

He'd been able to see the first pictures of the landing of the manned Mars Mission from the surface of the Red Planet! The other monks had been utterly fascinated; they didn't see much television up here, and most particularly not Percy's very elderly friend. It was a really remote community and a very austere existence. When the unit had come, Percy immediately donated it to the community so that it could be used by all for all the important things that happened all over the world, as well as studying scriptures via the Uni-Net which had replaced the Internet.

It could be used for phone calls and video-conferencing. It had been particularly useful when the new Eastern Orthodox missionary community at the Earth's Moon Colony had needed guidance and help in teaching, carrying the holy scripture to all those scientists, engineers and construction workers so sorely in need of God's Word and guidance.

St Nestorius Monastery included the leaders of all the monasteries in these calls so no matter the language used in worship, all needs could be met. That had really helped, particularly with the Russians and the Bulgarians doing the construction and basic engineering at the new and massive Moon Colony, Mare Imbrium Base.

The collection of monasteries didn't have the necessary technology for this. But Papas Perseus and St Nestorius monastery did, and they shared. And after all this unstinting sharing, the Ecclesiastic Council of Mt Athos had decided unanimously to make the American born Greek Priest, so newly ordained as such the newest Protos; the "First" amongst the Council members. This was how the entire community of Mt Athos governed itself, and it put Papas Perseus in position as the liaison with the Greek national government in Athens.

Percy was now the Ecclesiastic Community's leader, when dealing with the outside world. He wasn't really sure just how that made him feel. But one thing had happened that literally rocked his world; he'd been introduced to the monastic sanctuaries' greatest secret, a monk whose true identity was known only to a precious few of his fellows: the Beloved Disciple, Ioannes. Or, as he had originally been known, Johannon. John the Younger.

The Beloved Disciple. The youngest of all the Twelve Apostles.

Two thousand years prior, Jesus had given the care of His mother Mary (Mariamne) over to Johannon, the only disciple to attend the Crucifixion. The rest of the Twelve Apostles had hidden from the Sanhedrin and the Roman garrison (minus Judas Iscariot who'd hung himself), the Jewish ruling council responsible for bringing Jesus, (or more properly 'Yeshua') to his death. John was marked for death, but he didn't care. He put his faith and trust in the Father, and attended his Lord at His Crucifixion and burial.

Jesus had once been asked by Simon Peter when He would return for the final judgement of humankind. The reply was that only the Father knows that day and time, and not even the Son will know until the Father tells Him.

"But what of all those who died before that day; how can they be judged and ascended into Heaven, all these faithful believers if they are dead?"

Jesus replied that it made no difference to the Father if they "slept" as He had commanded of all life, all flesh. Besides, what difference did it make at all if Jesus told "this one to wait for Me until that day, what difference would it make" for Peter; he would be "seeing Jesus and a lot sooner" than he thought!

Peter got a chill up his spine. He was just informed by the Son of the Father ("I AM") that Peter would die and long before John. But John, Ioannes was just told to "Wait for Me".

Wasn't he?

Percy now knew for SURE that he HAD been. Because here he was, sharing tea with Percy! In all of Percy's 79 years on Earth, this new friend was the most amazing. He had a perfectly calm outlook on things. He knew, KNEW that Percy was the only mortal son of Poseidon living other than Tyson, who himself wasn't exactly "mortal". John had first greeted Percy and discussed these things with Percy before Percy could properly greet the man back!

Percy had come to this place of peace decades before. It was just a couple of years after that mess with Artemis had happened and he was so glad when he arrived on this sacred soil, made so by centuries of monks living prayerful and contemplatively worshipful lives, completely dedicated and absorbed in prayer and meditation upon the Divine.

It was beautiful and serene, with a view of the Aegean Sea that went on for hundreds of miles out. It was a long time before he was told of Brother Ioannes' true identity, and only two years ago after being voted in as Protos. Ioannes never left Mt Athos these days. He'd been exiled to the island of Patmos, not far from the Turkish coast back about the year 94AD, at the advanced age of 88. He was born in 6AD, and it was the Roman Emperor Domitian who sent him there in exile for spreading the new Faith.

And for daring to not die when Domitian had him boiled alive in oil in the Colosseum in Rome, in front of almost thirty thousand pagan Romans!

Yeahhh, that really did get Domitian's royal goat! Thousands of pagan Romans had given up the gods that day. Zeus had a migraine for weeks! That had to have hurt. It surely did kind of emasculate Domitian. Ioannes had used his time constructively in writing the Book of Revelation. It foretold the end of the world and God's Plan for us. Percy's favorite part of the New Testament.

Percy was feeling troubled that day; his feelings were the reason why he'd sought out John. He was aware that Ioannes "had knowledge", knew things he normally couldn't possibly know. But Percy also knew from Whom Ioannes received his knowledge. He'd been given a gift of mortal life for as long as he could endure, and all for the purpose of conversion and as a testimony to his Faith. And the Father's love for him, a faithful disciple of His Son, perhaps THE most faithful. Certainly the youngest. He'd cared for Mary for the rest of her life. That had to mean something.

God always keeps faith with those who keep faith, HAVE FAITH in Him whose name is "I AM". And now Percy's faith was telling him that something… 'something was wrong' somewhere in this world. And he had asked Brother Ioannes to meet and speak with him that morning.

"My brother, Ioannes! Good morning to you! How are you today?"

It was about 7:15am, a wonderful time of day in late September. John looked at this much younger man. He was aware of Percy's true identity and of his "family". He knew that Perseus Jackson was the mortal-born son of an ancient Greek god, the god of the oceans and the seas; Poseidon.

And Ioannes knew he could tell that somewhere in the world, a place already known to Percy but not known to John that there was a problem. Somewhere, an ancient evil was stirring and it might be that only men marked by God Himself could stop it.

Ioannes was no warrior and he never had been, but he was an Emissary. He was absolute living proof in the power and divinity of The Master. He'd cared for His mother until her death and the Ascension of her blessed remains wholly into Heaven at the point of her mortal death. He'd physically seen it. He'd seen The Master, her Son ascend to Heaven after His Resurrection. He knew what Ascension meant. And John had lived every day from then until now, even speaking with and converting the Roman emperor Constantine after first converting his mother, Helena to Christianity. John had changed the Roman Empire forever. A Christian priest. An Emissary.

John had been instrumental in convincing the Frankish Prince Charles, called "The Hammer", or in Frankish, "Martel" to challenge the Muslims then boiling out of Asia and offering them battle at the city of Tours. They came at Europe under the banners of the Ummayad Caliphate. The Muslim forces were destroyed. Completely. And history was changed once more by a Christian. An Emissary.

John had inspired the Polish King Jan III Sobieski to ride to the rescue of the city of Vienna when again, Turkish Muslim forces had "come calling"; three hundred thousand Muslims had attacked in July and it lasted until September of 1683, with less than twenty thousand defenders in Vienna. To say they were in a very bad way is a gross understatement.

The relief columns battled the rear guard forces of the Turkish leader, Kara Mustafa incessantly and finally defeated a force of over fifty thousand men, thus opening the way for Sobieski to run his forty thousand cavalrymen right at Mustafa's rear.

A Christian monk, an ordained priest called Marco d'Aviano was greatly trusted by the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold ( Austria) and had been absolutely instrumental in getting the predominantly Germanic war council of nobles to accept the elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth who himself was not "born to the crown"; it was d'Aviano's brilliant oration that carried the day and convinced the nobles to accept Sobieski.

D'Aviano was credited with being a saintly man, who had worked many healings and other miracles. He had also been observed bi-locating physically (being in two places at the same instant). And of course, his gift of tongues (perfect Polish? Italian? Latin, Greek, and German?) had to "come from somewhere". Right?

When Ioannes took on the identity of Padre Marco as a younger man, his facial features were altered divinely so as to look younger. Much younger than his already estimable 1,683 years! And he lived as Padre Marco for a number of years before going back to the island of Patmos. And all the while he aged "normally".

Patmos was by then his home, after all.

He could have "moved on" whenever he wished, but what with the jobs he "was assigned" he was having too much fun to leave the Earth! So he endured.

When his call to leave Patmos came, he moved to Athens where he introduced himself to the Hellenic Archbishop of Greece. Ioannes had been preceded by a "Visitation", a messenger angel. Ioannes was announced to the Archbishop in a dream in the middle of the night. When the good Episkopos awoke, he was standing on the main altar of the cathedral.

But it wasn't the Metropolitan Cathedral in Athens that he normally said mass in; he found himself at St Nektarios Cathedral in the city of Patras, 134 miles from Athens and overlooking the Peloponeseus!

HE BELIEVED THEN, ALRIGHT! And this was important because he argued with the angel who spoke to him in his dream. He went to sleep at ten pm and awoke at dawn, 134 miles from his starting point; and this was back in 1889! So no rapid transport there back then! The archepiskopos also learned one more immutable fact: Angels have a rather broad sense of humor. So NEVER argue with an angel. Especially not before bed. The venerable churchman woke up on the cathedral's altar in the middle of morning mass with no pants on.

MWAHH-HAHH!

John was assigned to the monastery of St Nestorius after meeting with the bishop. The thing was made clear to all and John was used to things pretty much always happening this way. He had a new task set before him; guide the the formerly pagan demi-god on his set path. He was gonna _NEED_ said guidance! So John settled in for the long haul. And he waited. And prayed and meditated and… mostly waited very patiently.

Percy poured the tea into each man's cup, surreptitiously stealing a glance at the ancient human in front of him. Percy's abilities to sort people and monsters by scent had gotten much stronger over time.

He sensed no harm or deception coming from Papas Ioannes. It was a holdover of his demi-god capabilities that had helped Percy along his New Path, and it would hold him in good stead for a while longer, this John well knew. It had been "explained" to him.

"So brother, how long have you been here on Athos", Percy asked.

"It's been… a while now."

Percy continued to stir in milk and just glanced at the other man. Percy grinned a little and quipped back, "A 'while' you say? A 'while'? A _long_ while, maybe?!"

John looked at Percy's sea-green eyes and said, "You know, I once met some... _one_ … with eyes like yours. Very much exactly like yours, ocean green, deep sea green. You might actually have met this 'man'".

John emphasized the word 'man' just a bit more than the rest of his words.

Percy put down his teaspoon and picked up his cup. John joined him and the two priests began drinking their tea. Percy reflected on what had just been said to him, and decided no harm, no foul.

"You say you met this person? A woman or a man?"

"Mmmm, kind of hard to quantify actually. But a male, a very powerful male. And you look just like him".

Percy smiled. He sipped his tea and looked outward, out over the blue Aegean. He could see a school of dolphins out there playing around with a distant ferry. His extraordinary eyesight permitted this.

"So brother, you met... _someone_ … who looked like me right down to my eyes?"

John put his cup down on the large rock that was serving as their table. He took in Percy's features. Over the many years that Percy had gotten older since his days as a teen-aged demi-god, he had always looked like his father.

He'd gotten older, a little gray had crept into the hair by his temples and he had lines around his eyes, but even though he was now nearer seventy he hadn't visibly aged. No one knew just how long a demi-god could live; most died violently in battle, earning their places in Elysium that way. But Percy had lived a good deal longer than any other in many centuries. Even he had no idea, but going by visible signs of his aging, he had a _looong_ way to go just yet!

"Yes; your eyes are very distinctive you know. I've never met any other mortal with your… or _HIS_ color eyes. A deep sea green, _verrry deep_ , I would say".

The ancient Apostle did have a sense of humor, say whatever else about him you liked. Percy found Ioannes' company quite enjoyable. Many was the morning they'd shared tea or sometimes just met and spoke together. Some of Percy's best sermons had used things that this incredible man had spoken to him about.

Percy reflected silently that it would be nice to have someone in whom he could confide even his most personal and honest tales as histories. Papas Stavros had passed on several decades ago; he'd come back to Greece and had been killed near his native village, where he'd accepted a posting as the district priest.

He'd gone down fighting several monsters who'd taken exception to a demi-god coming back to the village he and his brother had fled many years before. Stavros had been killed by a poison tipped arrow fired by a Dracaena, one of several who waylaid the old son of Apollo on his way home after giving last rites to a dying parishioner. Over half of the group went down under Stavros' blade until the poison reached his heart.

The monsters had roused several dozen villagers all of whom had reached for the one thing that they knew from bitter experience would kill the savage bastards: Fire.

They fell on the six or seven left, a mix of dracanae and mountain cyclope (no sons of Poseidon here) and burned them down to ash. Their weapons were divided between a few of the villagers brave enough to take possession of them. They were put to good use in clearing the whole district out of said supernatural butt-lickers over the next few years.

Something about the courage of Papas Stavros and his love for his own home and flock had stirred them all. That and the fact that another younger priest had come to take over temporarily after his friend and mentor was killed.

Papas Perseus came; his Episkopos had ordered him to keep his _pen_ handy and to do what he could about the situation.

After the old priest's funeral, Percy had been approached by a delegation of citizens who were armed with the seized weapons. They'd seen Percy going through his paces with Riptide the night before they came to ask him to train them all. The great sword had left trails of luminescence with every swing; it was like watching a laser-light show.

Percy wound up training them as best he could in the amount of time he had before he'd had to go back to Athos. He'd only been at Mt Athos a year when word came about Papas Stavros.

But Percy had a chance to demonstrate his skills with a very brave (read: stoOOpid!) Cyclope, who sought to make a name with Percy. Percy had cut the huge bastard to literal shreds, bit by bit. But the battle had drawn the attention once more of the Greek gods, having taken place so close to the original Mt Olympus.

 _Olympus,2039 ad_

Zeus had a headache. A nasty one, and he called to his son Apollo.

"Hey pops! What's wrong? Can I help you with anything? Maybe sing a song, make up a hai-ku for ya?"

Zeus just held his head in his hands and groaned. He looked sideways at the chipper sun god, his youngest immortal son out of the corner of one squinty eye.

Apollo looked concerned; "Dad, you don't look so good. Wassup?"

Zeus opened his mouth as if to talk and suddenly vomited all over the floor. Apollo looked at the sick by Zeus's feet and grimaced. He waved his hand and the sick disappeared.

"Father, you really don't look well and that vomit was of nasty color. Why don't you let me check you over in my temple and let's see what's wrong, okay?"

Zeus could only try to rise from his throne and grab his son's arm for help. He was so ill he couldn't see straight and he couldn't speak. And all of his existence he had only felt this way or this bad once before, and that was when he was birthing Athena out of his head.

The pain in his head that time had been so bad that he screamed for Hephaestus to open his head with a chisel. Hephaestus did so and lo and behold, Athena popped out fully dressed and ready for battle.

Well, that's what you get for swallowing a pregnant woman so that she won't give birth to a goddess who may overthrow you. Kind of like what happened with his father.

An hour later and some very rigorous tests including a prostate examination which Zeus thought was completely unnecessary but just had no strength to resist, and all the testing was over.

"Dad, the only thing that I can see here is that your godly energy levels have spiked tremendously and rather viciously as well. Their color should be a little cooler than what I'm seeing but yours are running very very hot right now. So you're feeling terribly ill. I will try to find medication that will work for you and easing the pain because I don't think that Ibuprofen or acetaminophen or even aspirin is going to help this one!"

Over the last hour Zeus had actually been feeling a little bit better. Whatever he had done, Apollo had made Zeus feel better. Whether his examination had loosened up some of the Godly energy that seemed to be backed up or whatever he had done, Zeus was feeling a bit better and was finally able to communicate somewhat.

"P-p-p-eeerrse-se-us…"

Perseus? PERSEUS?

"What about Perseus dad? Have you found him? Do you know where he is? Please Dad, please tell me! You know how much we all want to find him!"

Zeus just frowned and shook his head slowly.

"N-n-ooo! Don't know-where.. He-he-he…"

And Zeus vomited all over again.

He looked up at Apollo in what could only be described as utter misery. Apollo, ever observant as regarded such things could see his father's misery.

The god of medicine… among other things… was taken completely aback by his father's face, such was Zeus' facial expressions. The agony and misery as well as the uncontrollability of these conditions had twisted the king of the gods' face into a mask unlike anything Apollo had ever seen before.

It was at this point that Apollo realized that his father was in worse pain than when he birthed Athena!

Apollo moved around to his father's side and put an arm around his shoulders. It was only his intention to give some physical comfort, but what happened next shocked both gods; Apollo could feel 'stuck' to his father, and something started pulling on his godly energies!

It felt as if an unseen parasite had clamped down on them both, immobilizing them and riveting them both to the spot!

PAIN! UNCONTROLLABLE PAIN… Apollo was SICK! Like he'd never experienced anything like this before!

Suddenly, a golden glow formed around them both and a voice spoke to them. It was a soft voice, soft as if deliberately made so by the speaker. But with an authority that brooked no argument.

"I have spoken with you before now. I have made my will known to you concerning my holy priest, Perseus. Why do you continue to fail ME and him in these matters? Why is he being permitted to do YOUR jobs of killing off these abominations left on my Earth? Why have you not sent teams of demigods from your camps, your own children to do their bound tasks of destroying these beasts and abominations of desolation that you Greeks created"?

Apollo was able to croak out a reply; "P-p-pleeease! Stop the painnnnn… killing usss! Don' know whatchoo wannn' from uss! How can we helllp?!"

The glow became softer and the pain started to ease. Both gods could stop vomiting now; they'd left a copious mess all around themselves and on themselves. Two of the most powerful gods on all Olympus had been reduced to shivering wrecks of their former glory.

The Voice spoke again: "I AM. You both know Me by now. I have caused you, Zeus much pain as a lesson. I could have taken all your powers and authorities from you had I so wished. But rather than do that, I inflicted that same pain upon your son, your "Sun god" as he is titled. I did this as he tried comforting you, his loving father so the two of you would stand as examples of what ALL OF YOU can expect the next time you choose to disobey My Will."

There was a pause, and both gods ceased feeling any pain. The memory was still not coming to them; what was this ubiquitous 'I AM' on about?

"To refresh your memories, one of my Holy Priests, a Warrior named Stavrious, also your son, Apollo; he was slaughtered by your pantheon's monsters defending the folk of his own native village, and very close to the base of your old home.

"This was YOUR JOB, not that of my Priest's. But Stavrious was never, EVER going to allow that situation to fester; but YOU BOTH DID!"

The light became unbearable and the pain lanced through both gods all over again! They screamed, they cried. THEY WERE BOTH WRONG TO ALLOW THIS AND THEY BOTH SCREAMED OUT HOW SORRY THEY WERE!

The pain stopped.

And both father and son fell unconscious on the floor of the throne room. They would soon know REAL sorrow.

Hestia flashed in to tend the Central Hearth. She immediately saw both Zeus and Apollo in front of Zeus' throne on the floor. She gasped and ran over. Settling in next to her baby brother Hestia cuddled him in her lap, getting covered in vomit in the process.

She slapped Zeus' face very lightly but firmly time and again in an attempt to awaken him. It wasn't working so she tried sending a wave of godly energy at him. She'd worry about Apollo after helping her brother.

"Hestia"

She looked up to see where the voice had come from, but there was no one and nothing there. She turned her sole attention back to her king.

"HESTIA".

Now she stood up and looked around. And she saw a figure dressed in white samite. There was a beautiful golden glow that absolutely enveloped and permeated him(her?). The figure turned toward Hestia and pulled down his robe's cowl. His face was absolutely beautiful and he had a sword sheathed at his belt. His robe fell open and it became clear he was fully armored.

His breastplate was contoured to his abdominals and his forearms were covered in twin vambraces made of the same glowing white… metal?... that formed the rest of his armor. His battle kilt was made of long angled plates of the stuff and his collar protected his neck and shoulders thickly but it seemed he moved easily in it.

He looked at the childlike goddess and she knew this was a Warrior Without Equal. No peer. And he reminded her of Percy. His hair was full and tousled like it had never seen a brush and he had a sword scabbarded at his side. He bent down and picked something off the floor where it had been half-hidden from view. He had a huge shield with a long spear. And his spear's head was made of flame. A flame so bright that Hestia had to avert her eyes. A goddess of fire had to avert her eyes!

He looked at her directly and she somehow knew; this was an Angel of I AM.

"I am an Angel sent to you with a message from the One TRUE God". He said this last with a glare and Hestia could feel his animosity. It was well-controlled but it was there.

She stood after laying Zeus' head down and vanished the vomit and misery from her dress. She altered her appearance to that of an adult woman, beautiful and with a demure but even countenance.

"Angel, are you responsible for my brother and his son here? Are they like this by your hand?"

The Angel looked at the two gods with disgust. He turned to face Hestia and looked at her in her eyes; "No. The Almighty has done this. It is His Will alone that causes this now. The example is set and here is the message: You have permitted your mortal children to battle your abominations. These monsters are YOUR problem, and NOT your childrens'.

"Now My Holy Priest, a mortal child of Apollo has been slaughtered whilst defending the people of his own native village.

"AND I WILL NEVER PERMIT THIS AGAIN.

I am sending Perseus, son of Poseidon and the mortal woman Sally who has brought her own son to My Path. I have made his path straight and I will protect him. And he will be dispatched to this village to exterminate absolutely this nest of evil in My NAME. None shall escape his blade, for I shall bless him and his blade Riptide to My Holy purpose.

The villagers, most of whom are descended of you Greek celestials will see this demigod son of Poseidon and a mortal woman, a consecrated Deacon of my Church made holy to My Name of his own free will, utterly destroy these beasts of your own creation.

"And he will preach the Holy Gospels to these simple folk. I shall send them blessing after blessing through Perseus and he shall heal many who are injured or ill.

"And he will bring these to me and away from you all. You will lose this village, this entire district that has been mostly your own for many millenia. And they will come to Me because of Perseus.

His blade shall whittle you all down. And you shall all be made to watch. You will see My power when you choose to allow any and all of your own children to do your jobs for you."

Hestia pondered this for a moment.

"I do not intend any disrespect, but I will be asked by my fellows if this command of Yours will not lead us to violate the Ancient Laws. Why do I say to them? Please help me to understand this".

Hestia tried being cautious here; she needed to help the others understand that this I AM had the power, the Authority to change these laws at will. Hestia did understand this; but she knew she would need to make the others understand this as well. And she definitely did NOT want to be perceived as defying The Almighty.

Hestia had been studying this for years now and had an understanding better than the other Olympians. But she had to proceed with caution and respect. The Angel continued, answering her question.

"You are wise to ask this. You must all understand how taking direct action against a lesser form of being will not violate those Ancient Laws of yours. To begin with, those so-called 'laws' were passed down so that the abominations that were your corrupt parents could be restrained by Divine Will.

"They laid waste to the Earth and corrupted her peoples, even tribes that had never been given to them since just after the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. Your parents' meddling upon the Earth was the single most imminent reason for my destruction of the surface of the Earth and all her peoples, save for my devout son Noah and his family.

"These laws I forced upon you all were put in place so that none of you would try using the planet Earth as your 'playground' ever again. You are Celestial Beings, and you styled yourselves gods! You did that to inveigle humans into worshipping you all. Your brother, Poseidon and his niece Athena even battled, contested for the worship of the city of Athens, and Athena highly favored the Athenians who named their city after her.

"Athena clearly violated the Ancient Laws as you call them. So did Poseidon. And so did Ares in his favoring and patronage of Sparta. And you ALL violated these rules in the matter of the Trojan War.

"I allowed these things to pass as it was a matter of Hellenes versus other Hellenes. I was busy with Moses and settling my People Israel into the lands I gave to them back then, and the loss of a few tens of thousands of Greeks did not concern Me at all.

"But I see now that I have been fa too lax with all of you; Artemis proved that to me. You had all lost respect for Me. I will not permit this of you, not any one of you, especially not your so-called king.

"Hestia, you will carry My Words to your Olympian siblings and their children. I am appointing you because you have a pure and honest heart. You are chaste, even though you harbor a secret love for he who is now My holy priest, Perseus. You never acted upon your feelings, but remained pure and chaste.

You have delighted Me in this way, and so long as you observe those things as well as the laws I give you, you shall come to no harm by My Will".

Hestia stood shocked to her core. Her secret love for Percy was out! But she could never act upon it; I AM had made that clear for her, His words coming from the mouth of this Warrior Angel. Her chastity delighted Him, and she would maintain it. And she would now become His messenger to the Olympians, setting up His new interpretation of the Ancient Laws.

There was just one question on her mind…

And it seemed it had been anticipated.

"NO. You will not have any contact with Perseus. His path is Mine to set, now that he has consecrated his life to Me." God's tone of voice via His Angel was harsh and commanding, but then the tone softened.

"Hestia, you are the eldest of all here, and you alone kept the peace, placating your intemperate brother Zeus, even giving up your throne.

"In a truly fair world, you and Perseus could have had a love that spanned centuries. He could have joined you all, and a mighty Olympian he would have been!

"But not now. Perseus was so badly hurt by his trip through Tartarus and all its attendant horrors that his mind was nearly destroyed. And his lover Annabeth could no longer be a part of his life due to the damage done to her as well.

"She was supposed to have been Perseus' wife, the mother to his children, daughter to Sally and Paul and sister to Tyson. But now? Nothing. She has set her own path in life. And this is only right and just.

"Perseus' legend was cut short for any has become an even more glorious destiny; he will become a Warrior Priest, a true defender of the Faith and an Emissary carrying My Gospel to the ends of the Earth. He will become a human Arch-Angel, as he shall battle physical evil as personified by these abominations."

Hestia knelt before the Angel, but he extended his heavily muscled forearm and raised her gently to her feet. His hand was large and smooth, and he said, "You should not kneel before me; those such as myself may not be so venerated. This is only for the Father".

Hestia was amazed. Such a being as this, and completely unselfconscious!

"It shall be as you have said; I recognize these words that came from your mouth as the words of I Am. And I shall obey Him.

"But my siblings and family will try to resist. What shall I do to get them to stop their usual argumentative nonsense?"

The Angel looked at her and grinned. It was a chilling grin.

"Do not worry; my Father will provide you with the means to bring this unruly pack of 'godly wannabes' to heel.

"My name is Michael. And I am the leader of the Heavenly Armies. I will help you bring these others to heel, Hestia. And then Perseus' path will be made straight".

Phew! This chapter took me months. I'm just pulling odds and ends together here. But the next chapter is being written already and Percy will finally meet with Annabeth. It's about time! Right?

Please, as always leave me reviews.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note

Hello there!

I've received some few reviews and PMs regarding the nature of Christian beliefs across the spectrum of Christianity. And they weren't all agreeable to what I've written so far. So I decided to write this "Author's Note" in the hopes of clearing some perceptions up.

Two points that more than a few of you out there did bring up in particular were as regards the "Name of God". Another point is the supposed nature of the holy sacrifice in Christianity. And these are fair points. They are both truly kind of controversial all by their lonesomes!

Since the last thing on my mind is to insult anyone's beliefs, let me say that this is a STORY. And as Our Hero is a Greek through and through, that he's now become a member of the "Greek Catholic Eastern Orthodox Church" is kind of a given.

But his beliefs are not what this story is about. And neither is there anything in what I've written to compare Catholicism to Presbyterianism, or any other denominations. Apples is apples and they ain't oranges!

Now to start with:

The Name of God.

God has had quite a collection of names throughout history. To the Patriarch Abraham He was El-Shaddai. Likewise to Samuel and Isaiah, to Esau and Jacob. To Moses and Aaron He was called El-Elohim, but His "secret name" was I AM. That was the secret Name He gave to Joseph at the beginning of Israel's Egyptian captivity so when He did send an emissary to His people, they would know he was telling the truth about He Who Sent him (Moses).

This was the God of power, of might and a relatively short temper! God then became known as Adonai and nowadays is called Hashem by ultra-orthodox Jewish communities. This is a 'non-name' to refer to The Divine and this phrase means very simply in English, "The Name". And I do NOT want to offend anyone by referring to His Holy Name or names on a constant basis. I do NOT wish to be perceived as "Irksome".

I'm writing a work of fiction here, not another Gospel!

As for the Eucharistic elements of bread and wine, please keep in mind that although many hard-core Protestants out there refer to the Eucharist as a "commemeration" only, a remembrance of the Last Supper, Catholics, and not just Roman or Latin Rite Catholics but also all Catholics including Copts, Malankarans, Armenian Rite, Eastern Orthodox, Episcopal Churches and all churches "in communion" (in terms of belief structure) with any other or each of those also in communion with either Jerusalem, Alexandria, Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox) and/or Rome, the Eucharist is the consecration of the bread and wine which (in the pan-Catholic belief structure) actually becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus.

This is an absolutely literal belief. And anyo ne reading this story needs to keep in mind that while this is only a story, that belief is NOT. It's a serious issue and must be treated with the utmost respect by me within the context of my tale.

What all this is, is a story about Percy J taking refuge from the Olympians who've harmed and quite literally abused him and his good nature, and surrendering, if you will to the Creator of All Things, the Father in Heaven as well as coming to a belief system that acknowledges God's Son made flesh by His Will and used as the One Sacrifice for all sin for all time. Percy eschews all belief and devotion to the Hellenic/Roman pagan gods and changes his entire life.

Percy had a crisis of faith in his old belief system and heard the Gospel and the Catechism from Papas Stavrious, and asked then to be Baptized into this new and warm Faith. This story is all about the genesis (if you will) of that decision and what happened as a result of it. Nothing more, nothing less.

I ask NO ONE to believe in anything I write; this is a work of fiction, a story that I've been working and thinking on for a long time.

I don't wanna try to convert anybody; the presence of the Beloved Disciple should be proof of that ss he is an historical figure and his alleged living continuity is only a story all by itself, an old legend based in a conversation between Jesus and Simon Peter.

But the Twelve Apostles are actual historical persons, and we have their writings as well as the Gospels to point to these facts. So please do not take seriously any liberties I take with this work of fiction.

I truly hope you will all keep on reading and leaving reviews and a big thank you to everyone who has already left me one… or more!

Thank you again, all of you.


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